Now that all other international commitments have come to an end, all the teams can focus entirely on the ICC World Twenty20. Scyld Berry feels Twenty20 is going international for three reasons - Everybody wants to cash in; the timescale is ideal; and the shorter the game, the more likely a close result. He writes in the Sunday Telegraph
The first Twenty20 World Championship should be the most watchable 'global' cricket event for a decade. It can hardly fail to be. Recent World Cups have been dire because they have comprised far too many countries and therefore far too many mis-matches, while every Champions Trophy has proved a non-event. Such is the appeal that Tuesday's opening game between South Africa and West Indies and the final are sell-outs; and three-quarters of seats overall have been sold, albeit at knock-down prices, the lesson of the last World Cup having been learned.
Simon Wilde is of the same seniment as he previews the the tournament in the Times.
This event should be everything the one in the Caribbean was not – and therefore hasten the march towards 20-over cricket becoming the sport’s dominant short form. At 14 days long rather than 47, it will be blessedly concise.
Ticket prices have been slashed to bring back the masses who were so brutally cold-shouldered at the World Cup. With the most expensive seats for the final on September 24 costing £11 rather than £149, as was the case in Barbados in March, grounds should be full rather than three-quarters empty.
Also read Will Luke's piece on how Twenty20 cricket is true to its roots on cricinfo.com
