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20/20-Is it Cricket?
Having been a regular cricket watcher for 20+ years I have to say I have found it difficult to get into the biff bash of 20/20. It may be the future but to me its not the game I grew up with-during which time the general feeling was that even 40 over a side Sunday League game (which admittedly I did enjoy) was approaching joke cricket.
Personally I believe 20/20 -if it continues to grow- will produce entire teams of average all rounders-after all bowlers only get 4 overs in these games - whats the point of being a bowler?(which presumably will feed into the Test arena too) And where is the time to allow the ups and downs that make cricket fascinating and unique?
Cricket has always been a day out, with newspapers, personal radio, books, sun, and relaxation. Now we appear to be a couple of rule changes and a hamburger away from Baseball.
So-is it Cricket?
Personally I believe 20/20 -if it continues to grow- will produce entire teams of average all rounders-after all bowlers only get 4 overs in these games - whats the point of being a bowler?(which presumably will feed into the Test arena too) And where is the time to allow the ups and downs that make cricket fascinating and unique?
Cricket has always been a day out, with newspapers, personal radio, books, sun, and relaxation. Now we appear to be a couple of rule changes and a hamburger away from Baseball.
So-is it Cricket?
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The same question was asked when they started wearing pyjamas, playing limited overs, removed the Gentleman / Player distinction, bowled Bodyline, WG Grace fixed matches, they went to three stumps...
Yeah, it's cricket, but yet to be something that's captured my imagination. Like fast-food I'll indulge from time to time but I can't see me ever caring whether the Manchester Tornadoes beat the Calcutta Cavaliers.
Dravid was quite interesting on the radio yesterday in the innings break talking about the same point that 20/20 will create mediocre cricketers who are poor on technique and fitness because the format rewards mediocrity. For that reason he and the IPL boss claimed that it can only be a financing springboard to ensure longer forms survive because only in those forms can the real skills be honed.
But it's hard to know where it'll lead, if anywhere, but I somehow think my light-hearted opening view will be the future and ten years from now we'll look back and things will have changed in some ways but the fundamentals will still the be the same of gripping test cricket and throwaway limited overs. The game wouldn't have survived this long unless it gave people want they want.
I think my concern probably stems from the fact that, during my years actively watching cricket in the eighties and nineties, the most that changed fundamentally was the introduction of those strange white disc things to show the fielding circle.Yes there were eventually coloured clothing and night games but the that was just tampering at the edges.
It remains to be seen where it will end up, but more often than not money talks and the money appears to be coming from people who dont always have the games traditions at heart.
I am not very good at explaining myself but another part of 20/20 that I like is that I think it has a lot of potential for growth. I think if people know money is in the game then more youngsters will try it. Also I think it would be easier to learn than the test match version and that other countries that are developing at cricket such as Ireland and Kenya will not get beaten by such a great margin. I think because traditional cricket is over five days that the quality sides do well and there are so few test playing nations because you need to be at a high standard over several days. With 20/20 however you need to be good for 40 overs. I would love to see a cricket world cup have 32 decent teams in like the football one.
One day cricket and test matches is proper cricket in my opinion.
20/20 will not improve a cricketers technique, and agree its more suited to mediocre crickets rather than crickets that have spent years on their technique.
For me 20/20 cricket will always be for fun.
I think it's needed to keep spectators interested. The average test match spectator is aging rapidly.
I agree with you here. Its also used to bring in new fans i.e. people that dont watch test match or OD cricket. Then hopefully the new fans will start to watch OD and test match cricket as well.
I am not sure they will though. I grew up watching ODI's and Test Matches, but am starting to find 50 over matches a bit boring, I think the new fans will also.
You can tell by the amount they hype it up on Sky - everything is so wonderful.
I notice in the three games I've seen part of this domestic season it the grounds hardly seem to be packed out. They'll do a close up showing a lot grouped together but if they do a full ground shot there are plenty of gaps. Thus didn't happen when it first started - the public need a new fad (10 Ten, 5 Five anyone?)
He now has 151 from 57 balls against Sussex......
He has hit 16 sixes and 10 fours....:eek:
Absolutely awesome performance, ended up on 152
One of his sixes ended in a nearby garden....and they've just filmed Bumble climbing out of the ground to retrieve the ball.....:D
Aye, was fun to watch.
The boundaries were shortish but a lot of those sixes would have cleared much longer boundaries, no doubt about it.
Patience may be a virtue, but impatiens evidently not.........
Amazing innings, broke virtually every record going and given a couple of more balls would have beat McCullum's record 20/20 innings. Essex scored something like 208 off the last 14 overs!!
But with longer boundaries the chances of getting caught is much greater so Napier probably wouldn't have reached that total.
The problem with 20/20 is that spectators are going to expect dozens of 6s every innings now, when before, even in limited overs cricket, it was more of a rarity. I don't like the way Sky hype it up so much.
There is a clear difference between country's 20/20 selections and their Test selections.
But you have to look at it the other way - if people are caught on the edge of longer boundaries you don't get people saying it would have been six if the boundary was shorter etc.
He did what he did and I still think a large number of his sixes would have cleared even the longer boundaries.
Er i love cricket,20/20 is a great slogfest,and i applaud the people who invented it.
But as a cricket fan i support the longer form of the game, test matches,and yes the 50 over one dayers,20/20 appeals to a different market not necessarily pure cricket fans,but perhaps footie fans at a loose end,the fact the ecb have banned for the first time people being able to bring alcohol into grounds seems to confirm this. Due in part to crowd behaviour hitherto unseen in cricket.
I don't agree with the crowd behaviour thing. I went to a One Day International best part of 20 years ago when someone was stabbed in the neck, never seen it since.
Look at the IPL - music, dancing, entertainment, pop stars, showbiz - the cricket becomes a side event of the whole entertainment thing.
What cricket there is isn't cricket, it's slog it and hope stuff with no tactics to speak of. To me cricket is like a game of chess with a whole host of ups and downs during the game to the extent that the result can be totally unpredictable and that's what makes it exciting. A game of cricket if watched with a "chess eye" is never boring. T20 though is boredom personified, I'd rather watch football to be honest
Personally it's not the direction I want to see cricket taking. I'm a qualified umpire officiating in all sorts of games up to University / Minor Counties level and I refuse to officiate in T20 games at any level, It's boring and risible.
Sorry do not believe that happened in th uk, unless you can provide the details,the ecb specifically banned the bringing in by members such as myself,or any other members of the public alcohol into grounds,based soley on the behaviour of the crowds at last years 20/20 matches.
The fact you have never seen a cricket match in the 20 years since the alledged incident, suggests you are not a cricket fan anyway.Sorry for any offence caused.