Home > Cricket > Crash, bang, wallop – Twenty20 cricket is the real deal
by Chris Goldsmith on 22 August 2007
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Twenty20 cricket has been a revelation across the world. So much so that already the short form of the game has its own world tournament less than four years since it was created. It has changed the way both spectators and players think about cricket.
The concept of Twenty20 cricket is to entertain and to pull in the crowds after work or at the weekend. The bright outfits and music after each boundary and wicket adds to the fun. Yes, it's all a bit over the top but the game is a phenomenon. The stripy ties of old gentleman in the pavilion are now joined by families with young children all cheering, with their '4' and '6' cards waving in the air. Great fun for everyone.
Counties now have flashy names such as 'Lancashire Lightning' and 'Hampshire Hawks' to go with the sparkling clothes. The big screens flash up details of each player's favourite food or music as they come out to bat. Where else would you get to know what Michael Vaughan listens too his iPod? Who cares, you may ask? Well it's more interesting than listening to a cricket analyst tell us how the ball is swinging or how dry the outfield is!
Test cricket, four-day county matches and 50-over games still have their place, but they can be boring. The bad weather this summer has meant that nearly every four-day match Lancashire have played has ended in a draw. Who wants to wait around for four days to watch a draw? Twenty20 matches can be over in less than four hours, perfect for an afternoon in the sun or for a few beers with the mates after work with fours and sixes being smashed around the ground. Fast-paced tactics and strategies add to the fun, it's all brilliant entertainment.
Comments (8)
by Craig H on August 22, 2007
It's the same mentality that gave us instant coffee and McDonalds. It is for people who grew up with FIsher-Price toys and can't cope with even a few moments of their life with colour and movement. Twenty20 is even short enough for Americans to cope with. I'm sure it has its place and many supporters, but let's hope it never replaces real cricket. Cheers.
by Matt Page on August 22, 2007
stuffy and old fashioned, but if Twenty20 is the future of cricket then I'm not sure I want any of it. Don't get me wrong, it's good in small doses but like Craig says, you can't replace the real thing.
by Brad on August 23, 2007
From what Andrew Symonds has said the Aussies think on it as a bit of fun and thats the way it should stay played only every now and again or it will just become stale.
by Budhaditya Roy on August 25, 2007
Instant gratification? Ask the football fans to do away with the 90 minute games then. Lets have penalty shootouts for instant gratification there. The next time people talk literature, should we be talking Archie and Tintin?
by Justin Wallace on August 27, 2007
Basically that's how I see the difference between the purest form and the shorter varieties. The more instant... the less pure. But not the less 'entertaining'. Sure 20/20 is less of a 'mind/skill' contest and more of a who gets lucky enough to smack a few in the middle on any given day; rather than get bowled first ball will win... Good for the young crowd. It will 'alter' the game... forever. And it will eventually take over from the longer forms; which when the current traditionalists have all been buried in their graves; thirty or so years from now... will be all that cricket is. A batting version of baseball (where the 'struggle' favours the bat... not the ball. Like it or lump it. That's what will eventually happen. Ticket receipts and TV advertising revenues will condemn 'long form cricket' to the same amount of eventual world-wide popularity as Lawn Bowls and draw crowds of the same size. I love all versions of the game. (and lawn bowls) And consider myself fortunate; that right now; I ge
by Mark Currie on September 04, 2007
I love my cricket anypart of it. Let's face it 20/20 is hear to stay but it will not come at the expense of others. Look at this way 20/20 draws new people to cricket that could have positive effects on other forms of the game. For so long it was just the one form of cricket, now we have adjusted to 2 for so long now 20/20 has come along and we have another form of the great game of cricket.
by RajasH on September 18, 2007
..or should I say froth in your pint glass... what I mean is Twenty20 is ok as a domestic entertainment similar to manufactured pop we get bombarded on TV. As in England people come after work and see some slogging over a pint and some side entertainmentand under flood lights and go home. I cant see this format taking off as an International competition. Fans are not going to spend a fortune to go round the world to see a two hour slog and their team possibly getting elimiated. After watching few of the current world cup game on Sky, I dont now bother. One thing I notice is that every time a four or a six is hit it's follwed up with musical extrvaganza Where as when I went to few of the India England ODI my drinks was confiscated and all musical implements were banned!
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