How on earth is Twenty20 the future of cricket?

[SciD]

Its easier for new countries to adopt 20-20 than test cricket. You were born in age of ODIs but todays young kids are born in 20-20s. They will take to cricket because of 20-20 and when they do they will automatically want to play test as well.

Also test cricket is restricted club. Ones guy settles in test side its hard to dislodge them for 10 years meaning other players at that time are just playing domestic matches. But 20-20 will give them opprtunity to earn money like test stars do.

 

[Jit]

Its easier for new countries to adopt 20-20 than test cricket. You were born in age of ODIs but todays young kids are born in 20-20s. They will take to cricket because of 20-20 and when they do they will automatically want to play test as well.

Also test cricket is restricted club. Ones guy settles in test side its hard to dislodge them for 10 years meaning other players at that time are just playing domestic matches. But 20-20 will give them opprtunity to earn money like test stars do.

I do agree with you being able to earn money by playing 20-20 cricket rather than just playing domestic matches. I think test cricket wont die because everyone wants to play test cricket and it is the hardest to master.

 

[cricketfrantic]

Its easier for new countries to adopt 20-20 than test cricket. You were born in age of ODIs but todays young kids are born in 20-20s. They will take to cricket because of 20-20 and when they do they will automatically want to play test as well.

Also test cricket is restricted club. Ones guy settles in test side its hard to dislodge them for 10 years meaning other players at that time are just playing domestic matches. But 20-20 will give them opprtunity to earn money like test stars do.

Mostly true, it is important to first attract people to the game of cricket especially children.

Test Cricket can never die, and if does than so cricket.

People seems to be highly critical of Twenty20 because BCCI is the one has pioneered this format

There can never be an end to criticism.

 

[smssia0112]

That's right. England came up with the Twenty20 concept. The BCCI adopted the concept, went about marketing it in an innovative manner, and created a large commercial market. Now, the rest of the boards want to play catch up.

You can blame the BCCI for 'revolutionising' the Twenty20 all you want, but it doesn't change the fact that none of the other boards are any better. They are all in this for the money, which the ECB more than made evident in in its dealings with Stanford. The Australian board's decision to try to create their imitation of the IPL doesn't instill me with great confidence that they care about the welfare of cricket either.

Given this, you can probably understand why some of us find it amusing and a touch hypocritical when we see folks lamenting about the BCCI and their less than charitable ways, while largely ignoring the actions of their own boards.

But now the ECB are having doubts about Stanford and are trying to get out. I never said they were all perfect, and they all want to make money, but the BCCI seem to care just that bit extra.

aus5892 added 0 Minutes and 37 Seconds later...

Well kids are lucky here. They have school till 2:00 PM max.

I don't know about lucky, more school means more education.

 

[SciD]

I don't know about lucky, more school means more education.

Its just 8-14 rather than 9-15.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Okay, It may sound hypocritical of me, but I fully believe T20 cricket is the way forward.

T20 cricket is:
-Fast - Admit it, you won't watch a game you've never heard of before, with players you've never seen before, go on for 5 days. It just won't happen. My first experiences of cricket were all ODIs, and for a long time as I kid I couldn't care less what happened in the first innings of an ODI, still do sometimes. Tests came quite a while later, a few years, till I felt the urge and joy of sitting and watching a match from start to end, even if nothing much was happening. But for that to happen, I had to have ODI cricket first.

- Not one sided - If you are a supporter from a side like the West Indies or New Zealand in the current era, your side is gonna get thrashed more often than not in Tests, and several times in ODIs. But in T20, all sides stand a chance. You watch your country win an international tournament, your support for them shoots right up. You have pride in them, and now you take pride in their success. A young kid watches his country win a tournament or beat a top side, it'll make him feel his side is one worth supporting.

- Great for TV - Big channels would love to show 3 hours of sport instead of 8 hours for 5 days. If you want to tap into America or China, the best way to get on a major channel is through T20, not tests. Which leads to the next point...

- Easy to Host - You need great facilities for a Test Match, with great arrangements for fans, good transport, good pitch, etc. A not so good wicket can make do for a T20, and the facilities don't need to be as awesome as fans are just there for 3 (6 hours a day with a gap in between if there are back-to-back matches).

- Convenient to play - Schools and business can very easily host local T20 competitions instead of FC or 40 overs+. This allows most places to have even a very basic structure in place as organising a T20 comp is far simpler than an FC comp, and being the style of game it is it will attract a lot more players who find it more convenient to play 3 hours a day for a few weeks than 6+ hours a day for 3 days or more in a week. Some cricket is better than nothing.


If cricket is to progress and become a global sport, then it is unfortunate to admit that T20 is the way it will be done. I have already heard from a lot of kids who don't watch cricket otherwise that they find the IPL/ICL fun and enjoyed it. These kids would never bother to watch a test match, but they will watch T20. And now they are more willing to play cricket. If a few of them find they have talent, and take cricket more seriously as a hobby, they will get more into the game. Soon, you have a new 'proper' fan and possibly a young talent. As I see it, that isn't a bad thing.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Twenty 20 is the future of Cricket whether you like it or not. I'm not saying I want it to be, but it is. I think it could be a good thing though. Youngsters could get into Cricket with T20 and then slowly get lured into One Day and Test Cricket as well. T20 is the only way Cricket can reach more fans though.

 

[Sureshot]

Given how the economy is and will be for the next couple of years, having T20 could benefit Cricket massively. It's a big commercial selling point.

 

[aussie1st]

I certainly don't mind T20 cricket, as long as it doesn't increase too much more than what it has now. When we start have T20 series rather than Test series we are in huge trouble.

For countries that have a solid cricket setup I wouldn't want T20 being the major form of the game at grade level. The way players bat and bowl will be effected and then when they go to OD and in particular FC cricket they won't stand a chance. However I don't see a problem with countries like China and USA having it as their major form of cricket since just getting them to play cricket would be a success.

What we badly need to sort out is the ICL and its affect on countries with small depth. The ICC should just sanction it cause its not going anywhere anytime soon and all it is doing is taking star players away from countries like NZ and Bangladesh who can't afford to lose their players.

 

[DPRA]

I for one am a massive lover of Twenty20 Cricket, and I thought I would have a bit of input on this thread.

The main reason why everyone is saying Twenty20 cricket is the future is because of the crowds, the crowds allways pile in for a T20 game, this is because most of them are AFTER work, so anyone who has had a bad day at work can let off steam, have a beer, and a good sing song for the team, where as, during the week most county games are stuggling to pull 500 fans because of the times, its mostly the people in the later stages of life that watch it, the clubs want more because for example a Lancashire v Yorkshire T20 game on a Friday night is going to pull more in gate money/beer money than a Lancashire v Yorkshire LVCC game starting on a Monday at 11am. I for one am looking forward to the starting of the EPL.

However, I think it will damage the future stars, as Matt said, most players are going to want to just be like KP, Yuvraj etc and just smash the ball around the park. I personally dont like 4/5 day cricket, but the for the future of the game I think that should be the way forward.

 

[Highlander999]

For me 20/20 cricket is just the equivalent of a penalty shoot-out in football. Lots of excitment but over very quickly. What happens if people start saying football is too long and instead just want to watch penalty shoot-out's? Now obviously that'll never happen but it is the same sort of idea.

Basically the only reason being voiced why people like 20/20 is for money.

 

[Cricketman]

For me 20/20 cricket is just the equivalent of a penalty shoot-out in football. Lots of excitment but over very quickly. What happens if people start saying football is too long and instead just want to watch penalty shoot-out's? Now obviously that'll never happen but it is the same sort of idea.

Basically the only reason being voiced why people like 20/20 is for money.

How does that work? I like T20 and i'm not making any money off it...

It's entertaining. I wasn't a fan of the concept before but after the T20 WC and the IPL i've come to like it. It will improve bowling because the batsman won't just leave balls outside the off stump any more. The bowlers will get smarter and learn new variations and tricks, the batsman will get better to catch up with the bowlers and so on. T20 needs to be controlled, however. Let it stay in domestic cricket and have the one international tournament (the T20 WC) every two years.

 

[smssia0112]

Okay, It may sound hypocritical of me, but I fully believe T20 cricket is the way forward.

T20 cricket is:
-Fast - Admit it, you won't watch a game you've never heard of before, with players you've never seen before, go on for 5 days. It just won't happen. My first experiences of cricket were all ODIs, and for a long time as I kid I couldn't care less what happened in the first innings of an ODI, still do sometimes. Tests came quite a while later, a few years, till I felt the urge and joy of sitting and watching a match from start to end, even if nothing much was happening. But for that to happen, I had to have ODI cricket first.

- Not one sided - If you are a supporter from a side like the West Indies or New Zealand in the current era, your side is gonna get thrashed more often than not in Tests, and several times in ODIs. But in T20, all sides stand a chance. You watch your country win an international tournament, your support for them shoots right up. You have pride in them, and now you take pride in their success. A young kid watches his country win a tournament or beat a top side, it'll make him feel his side is one worth supporting.

- Great for TV - Big channels would love to show 3 hours of sport instead of 8 hours for 5 days. If you want to tap into America or China, the best way to get on a major channel is through T20, not tests. Which leads to the next point...

- Easy to Host - You need great facilities for a Test Match, with great arrangements for fans, good transport, good pitch, etc. A not so good wicket can make do for a T20, and the facilities don't need to be as awesome as fans are just there for 3 (6 hours a day with a gap in between if there are back-to-back matches).

- Convenient to play - Schools and business can very easily host local T20 competitions instead of FC or 40 overs+. This allows most places to have even a very basic structure in place as organising a T20 comp is far simpler than an FC comp, and being the style of game it is it will attract a lot more players who find it more convenient to play 3 hours a day for a few weeks than 6+ hours a day for 3 days or more in a week. Some cricket is better than nothing.


If cricket is to progress and become a global sport, then it is unfortunate to admit that T20 is the way it will be done. I have already heard from a lot of kids who don't watch cricket otherwise that they find the IPL/ICL fun and enjoyed it. These kids would never bother to watch a test match, but they will watch T20. And now they are more willing to play cricket. If a few of them find they have talent, and take cricket more seriously as a hobby, they will get more into the game. Soon, you have a new 'proper' fan and possibly a young talent. As I see it, that isn't a bad thing.

That's all true, but I think we're overkilling the desire to move cricket forward and overseas. It's not as if it wasn't popular before. The question is, are we willing to alienate our current fans just to get more who aren't interested in the other more traditional forms of the game? Are we willing to risk tradition for growth that we probably don't need?

 

[ZoraxDoom]

For one thing, cricket does need growth. It won't survive, because sports like Soccer, Tennis, Rugby, Golf, Athletics and more are getting bigger and better all the time. New records being broken, new events happening all over the world (Every country has a soccer league, Tennis tournaments can be found left and right, Golf has all of a sudden found a fan following, Rugby is getting international like with the Rugby 7s in Dubai every year, and the Olympics are just getting bigger every time) and new fans being created. Soon, we may find Cricket being lower down on the list of preference for the average fan, and soon cricket will actually lose fans and fall in quality. Look what has happened to Hockey, particularly in India. Once the top sport, now fourth to Cricket, Soccer and Tennis. This could happen on a world wide scale, and cricket needs to keep up.

We should make Test Cricket key. Keep it strong. T20 at international level should be scarce amongst the top nations, but frequent amongst the associates to get a fan base. Keep T20 and FC games at equal priority at associate levels. In domestic cricket, it varies from board to board, but if T20 is scarce internationally, then T20 will be a money spinning gimmick for them. Once they see the Test side faltering, they'll realise what is going wrong, and as long as the ICC ensures that Test Cricket is the main form, T20 will always be a side form to earn cash and fans. Domestic cricket in new nations though, will have to be all about T20 initially.

 

[cricketfrantic]

Twenty20 is still a 20 over each side contest. Bowler still need to put bowl in the right place and batsman need to play proper shots yes proper shots.

Those who think it is a Bang Bang thank you mam needs to see that given the pitch and condition T20 could still provide a gripping contest.

Some people just react to it like it is a cardinal sin.

It is a proper cricket.