Life is not to be wished away but the sooner the Champions' Trophy proper starts next Sunday, when England play India in Jaipur, the better.

On-field cricket in the Pink City can then push into the background the spouting of wrangling politics which has threatened to split the international family.

India leads the way with an ominous determination to take over the financial running of international cricket but what about Pakistan and an administrative upheaval that is spectacular, even by their standards?

The fall-out from the Oval Test match has accounted for the Pakistan manager, and the chairman of the Pakistan Board, and seen an astonishing yo-yo performance by Younis Khan concerning the temporary captaincy, as well as the sacking of a newly-appointed bowling coach before he had taken up his post.

Zaheer Abbas was removed as team manager before the International Cricket Council's hearing of the two charges against Inzamam-ul-Haq. Once the captain was effectively banned from the Champions' Trophy, Younis was appointed captain but turned it down, saying: "I don't want to be a dummy captain."

Coach Bob Woolmer said of a huge dressing-room split: "It seemed that Younis could not take the pressures of captaincy. His decision shows a lack of attitude and we need to change that attitude if we want to be world-beaters."

Younis turned turtle two days later and withdrew his refusal after Mohammad Yousuf was appointed in his place.

Yousuf is demoted to vice-captain, with Woolmer forced to swallow his words and claim that all was now well in the dressing-room.

It seems that Younis changed his mind following the resignation of Board president Shahariyar Khan, who was asked to resign - "told", more like - because he was present at The Oval and allowed the farce to develop.

Younis was clearly upset about the whole affair and the new president, Dr Nasim Ashraf, persuaded the new captain to take office, saying, "My main job was to reunify the team and, if there any divisions, to restore harmony. That was my first priority."

Younis's first refusal was a surprise because, during the four-Test series, he was a pro-active acting captain when Inzamam was off the field for various unexplained reasons.

The sleepy giant waits for things to happen while Younis is always busy trying to influence a match.

The many changes have come right from the top with Pakistan's President, General Pervez Musharraf, making a clean sweep of the PCB of which he is a patron. Imagine this country's Prime Minister putting his fingers into cricket's pie. No, on reflection . . . don't.

The story is that Younis was unhappy about the pro-Inzamam faction within the team and, with Woolmer unable to reconcile the situation to his satisfaction, made a stand.

How the new captain and coach approach the next three weeks in India will be fascinating because Pakistan are still a team of all the talents and could well win the competition from the safety of the weaker-looking half of the draw.

They avoid Australia and India in the group matches in which they should take care of South Africa and New Zealand, although Sri Lanka are dangerous floaters. If they beat the West Indies in the final qualifying match on Saturday they will be in the same group.

The saddest casualty of the blood-letting is Mushtaq Ahmed, whose brilliant season for Sussex won them the County Championship. He was appointed bowling coach for the Champions' Trophy but is one of Inzamam's best friends.

That is not a relationship to boast about in Pakistan as the ripples of the new revolution lap around many ankles, so Mushy has gone before he even started.

Other watery ankles include those of the England and Wales Cricket Board, whose chairman David Morgan is quietly pursuing a compensation claim of £800,000 from the PCB for the loss of the final day at The Oval. Morgan says: "While I regret not being able to finalise the settlement with Shahariyar Khan, I have no doubt that a satisfactory settlement can be achieved."

Don't empty the piggy bank on the result. The smart money says that either the ICC's disputes resolution process will be involved - or, even worse - the lawyers will.

India are making a serious attempt to take over from the ICC the official marketing of a product that is suddenly awash with millions of dollars in their own country.

A two-day meeting in Mumbai on November 3 and 4, on the eve of the Champions' Trophy final, will vote on a recently-carried proposal that bids for ICC broadcasting rights "are restricted to broadcasters and agencies." i.e., no individual board can bid.

India have just sold their own country's broadcasting rights over four years for a massive £325 million and want to bid for ICC's global rights for eight years to include the 2015 World Cup in Australasia.

The bid will not include Test and one-day series between individual countries. such as the next Ashes series.

The ICC will fight hard, as Malcolm Speed, the chief executive, made clear when he informed the Indian board that they can make a bid, providing that the decision to restrict bids to broadcasters and agencies is reversed.

India need seven votes out of ten but, given the power of the Asian bloc, they need to sway only West Indies, South Africa and Zimbabwe, leaving England, Australia and New Zealand helpless.

The next four weeks will settle a lot, on and off the field.

Herschelle Gibbs is making his first visit to India since the infamous Hansie Cronje's tapping of his borrowed mobile phone. He has agreed to be interviewed by the Indian police.

Will Cronje's murky shadow ever disappear from cricket?