Leading article: Rain on our parade

So it was not to be. The carnival of the Indian Premier League cricket tournament will pitch its tent in sunny South Africa, not rainy Britain.

But let us be honest, it was probably for the best. It was always going to be a stretch to ask Edgbaston in April to recreate the dusty intensity of Kolkata, or for Swansea in May to replicate the sultry frenzy of Chennai.

But where one door of opportunity closes, others open. Now the principle of the mobile international festival has been established, plenty of others (sporting and otherwise) will doubtless be clamouring to relocate to Britain and take advantage of our ever-reliable weather. The IPL's decision frees us up to host Rio's carnival, Pamplona's running of the bulls, Australia's surf life-saving championships and the baseball World Series. One at a time though, naturally.