You might remember a cricket game from back in the day called Owzat.

It involved two hexagonal barrel-shaped dice. One had numbers for the runs scored; the other various ways of getting out.

No stunning 3D graphics; nothing even as flash as a scoreboard. If you were lucky, there might just be a single sheet of basic rules.

The game came in a small cylindrical tube and billed itself as the closest thing you’ll get to playing real cricket – at least while sat on the sofa in the front room.

Rubbish of course because any cricket-mad young lad will tell you that the scoring was totally inaccurate. Batsmen didn’t score off every ball; no overs – unless they were bowled by Malcolm Nash – would go for six after six.

You couldn’t fill the runs into a proper scorebook because it just looked silly with bowling figures of two overs for 48. Real life? Do me a favour.

But maybe I have been doing the makers a disservice. Either that or Chris Gayle must have substantial shares in the company.

His record-breaking innings in India this week brought Owzat to life. Six, four, six, six ... it really was like rolling the numbers on that metal dice.

To be fair, a century in 30 deliveries is brisk even by Owzat standards. And there were even seven dot balls.

By the end, Gayle had mashed the puny Pune Warriors attack for 175 off 66 – after admitting he had slowed down to pace his innings towards the end!

Critics dismiss the Indian Premier League as a reality version of Xbox cricket. For a genuine comparison, you’ve got to go a lot further back than that.