Cricket already provides a buffet of audio treats - artificial sounds will add nothing to the viewing experience

NICK HOWSON: From fake crowd noise to music before play, behind-closed-doors Tests will be injected with atmosphere. But there is plenty of delight to be found in what already exists

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Groucho Marx. Orson Welles. William S Burroughs. Here is just a selection of historical figures to have provided a sweetshop of quotes pondering the authenticity of life. Some of them were uttered, others undoubted misquoted and a few fabricated altogether. It was extremely tempting to punctuate this column about the importance of what is real with a line about our spuriousness society. But, you know, irony.

You have to really want to see the legitimateness of the start of the cricketing summer in England. The hosts start without their captain. Tourists West Indies are deprived of a handful of star players. No saliva is permitted on the ball. Celebrations will be restrained (where possible). There will be no fans in the stands. Barely any media in attendance either. It will be cricket, not as we've come to know it, but how we'll get to know it.

Having to adapt to the new normal is part of the hand we've been dealt by the coronavirus pandemic. Many of the aforementioned compromises are here to stay and there is little immediate sign of that changing.

As with all major global sport to have returned in some form or other, the absence of supporters stings the most. The question of what sport is without crowds has been ventured countless times during this particular part of the crisis. Regrettably, that we're even here without any hope of stadia being filled this summer tells you where that devoted group sit on the list of priorities: they are a little more than a gap on the balance sheet.

Thankfully, administrators and broadcasters have extended something of an olive branch to those who are restricted to their armchairs, to compensate for their lack of access. Online watch alongs, in an effort to create camaraderie, perhaps best captures the effort to unite us when we are most apart.

^{Premier League teams have attempted to bring their fans closer to the action with online watch alongs}

For those of us who have had enough of staring at our own puzzled expressions - mostly while trying to remember the names of each of the seven dwarfs - atmosphere and texture has also been catered for. Pumped in crowd noise has dominated the return of professional football across Europe. The reviews have been largely positive, with relevant chants drowning out the sound of coaches barking instructions and players bemoaning injustice.

This summer will see cricket dip into the murky world of artificial atmosphere. The England-West Indies Test series will be supplemented by crowd noise during Sky Sports' live coverage. The hum of The Ageas Bowl and Emirates Old Trafford sent directly into your living room. No news yet on whether the broadcaster will be providing a slippery pork pie, real ale or a broadsheet newspaper to complete the user experience.

Sky deserve praise for at least attempting to improvise amid testing circumstances - knowing full well they have exclusive live access to the Test. They could easily sit back and watch the numbers roll in without a care in the world. During periods such as these, you remember the good eggs.

But on this occasion their act of compassion is misplaced. While a football match is an empty experience in cavernous arenas where noise rebounds off empty stands, cricket is used to such surroundings. Pakistan's hollow international existence in the United Arab Emirates, for example. Cricket is, of course, best consumed when crowds are packed in tight but even at a Boxing Day Test or IPL final there remains an intimate quality about the contest.

Above all else, cricket offers an audio buffet that other sports can only dream of. A bowler approaching their mark; leather on willow; an umpire delivering notice of a no ball or wide; chirp from the slip cordon; frantic dialogue between batsmen. There are a feast of sounds to supplement the sights - part of the reason Test Match Special will still work effectively.

^{Tim Paine's gibes regarding Virat Kohli provided an intriguing sub-plot to the Australia-India Test series}

I am not suddenly advocating that future ticket holders are forced into silence to allow these delights to be heard. But with them absent from the scene, allow the elements that already exist to operate alone. Fake crowd noise seems deeply unnecessarily when such beautiful, subtle sounds already exist.

If the authorities and broadcasters want to genuinely bring the television viewer closer to the action, then allow the stump microphones to be cranked up. Granted, some ropey language is inevitable but that is elite sport. Deal with it.

The audible barbs exchanged between Australia and India's players during the 2018-19 series provided an extra layer of hostility in an already fascinating series. The ICC do allow for mics to be turned up, but the broadcasters must hold up their end of the bargain, despite Ofcom lurking ominously.

In this era of information overload, deciphering the truth has never been more difficult. The line is blurring. Authenticity is key. Integrity is everything. Bigger issues are at hand, but cricket could do worse than protecting what already exists.

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