To look at it in another, slightly less sleep-deprived way - Cricket Chat is much like Test Cricket. Every so often, people have a whinge about missing the golden era, retirements lowering the standards, fast bowling being a dying art, and brain-dead sloggers proliferating.
There are still some links to the golden days - Richard Dickinson is like Sourav Ganguly: obnoxious, irritating, universally disliked but for a select few who call him "dada", and refusing to go away. I'm like Shaun Pollock, ginger and still just about here. Langeveldt has become Hansie Cronje, hung upon an edifice of his own creation. Marc, like Inzamam an iconic figure of respect and ridicule, has departed. Mr Mxyzptlk is the entire West Indian side, fading from glory but still able to stun you with the occasional moment of iridescence, and Scaly Piscine is Mark Ramprakash: disappearing into the sunset having been ignored once too often.
In their place, we have Jamee and PhoenixFire - Broad and Bopara, young, bold and confident. Silentstriker may very well be Sreesanth: sometimes sensational, sometimes dismal, but always controversial. Perm could only be the Angry Man of NZ Cricket, Jesse Ryder (now where's my crash helmet gone...?) Matt79 is Mike Hussey: it already feels like he's been around forever. Piper must be Graeme Smith's other half, Minki - particularly given that this sentence now neatly brings Richard's twin obsessions together. Pasag is Ricky Ponting - reformed troublemaker toeing the party line about the Spirit of Cricket Web, and Prince EWS is Michael Clarke, his lieutenant.
This is Shaun Pollock, retreating back to fine leg following an uncharacteristically long spell.