After the end to an exciting inaugural World Twenty20, Mike Haysman – always a fan of the format – says it’s time for change in his article in SuperCricket.
The ICC can no longer ignore the popularity of the shortest form and needs to accommodate the wishes of their fanatical paying public. This injection is exactly what the game needs to rejuvenate the sport and whilst Test cricket needs to be protected and preserved, the relatively sluggish 50 over game can step aside and allow the new pretender centre stage.
From the pulsating curtain-raiser at the Wanderers between South Africa and the West Indies to today's final matching India against Pakistan at the same venue, this tournament has spanned all of two weeks, including two rest days either side of Saturday's semi-finals. Compared to the attention-sapping two-month duration of the last two World Cup events - the International Cricket Council's flagship tournament - the competition has been packaged as any fast food should be: attractively presented for rapid consumption and instant gratification with no pretensions towards the proper nutrition that is needed to sustain the long-term health of the traditional form of the game.
A column in the Indian Express suggests that Twenty20 is not a dumbing down of the game.
Contrary to fears that cricket matches are becoming mindless slog-fests, T20 intensifies scrutiny of the game. Every delivery matters, every shot, every catch, every dive. With such little scope to make amends, freeloaders are caught out immediately.
Remember John Wright’s wry observation that the way limited-overs cricket was headed, any day now all eleven players would be picked for their batting. Most teams already go into ODIs with just four regular bowlers, even three. T20 has reversed that. The last fortnight in South Africa has shown that amongst well-matched teams the fifth bowler matters.
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