Twenty20

I've never been sure about Twenty20 cricket (that's how you have to write it apparently).

When the format originally began I was sceptical of the apparent slap-dash nature of the games; tactical nouse and the ebb and flow of the five day game cruelly tossed aside in favour of slogging a few sixes over mid-wicket and irelevant dance music pumping from the PA system after each wicket/over/boundary. I suppose it's a good way to get "people in to cricket" I thought - I mean I know how hard it can be to sell a non-cricket lover the plus points of the five day format. But this didn't mean I LIKED it. I was quite content to stick to watching test matches and the occasional 50 over game (I didn't care about the 40 over county games that have thankfully been scrapped this season, they're pointless, everyone recognised that)and let the families and 'uninitiated' wave their garish red '4' cards and cringe when david gower would conduct an interview with the captain of the fielding side WHILST HE WAS FIELDING!

But this has all changed. I now find Twenty20 (or T20 as Sky insist on saying) quite good fun. One reason for this is that I've recognised that it is a genuinely good way for kids to get into playing cricket, as most youngsters play 20 over matches at youth level. I spent a good number of years playing 20 over games for my club side between the ages of 10 and 14 and loved it. I was lucky that both my parents had a strong interest in cricket and I'd watch test matches with them, but it's definitely a positive thing if kids now can go along and watch the biggest names in cricket compete in the same format as they do. Twenty20 cricket is also a great deal cheaper to watch than test cricket is, something that should be considered in these poor economic times.

The second reason for my change of heart is , I will admit, down to a degree of boredom. Ok well not boredom, but having time to kill. Since the start of the ICC World Twenty20 Cup (everyone is at great pains to state that it's definitely not called the Twenty20 World Cup) I've had a lot of spare time and so have had the oppotunity to watch a number of the games live on television. And you know what? Many of them have actually been pretty exciting. Essentially imagine the last 20 overs of a run chase in a test match/conventinal 50 over match and this is what Twenty20 is like. Yes, this leads to an inordinate amount of slog shots and increased wickets, but I've come to realise that this is all part of the fun. You can't take Twenty20 too seriously. I've also realised that just because the amount of overs has decreased, it doesn't necessarily equate that the amount of skill on show has also gone down. Just witness Shiv Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo during the West Indies successful run chase against England last night; both batsmen have been around the test match and 50 over scene for quite some time, they know what it takes to win matches and this experience shone through when the younger more inexperienced players at the top of the order were losing their heads trying to hit the England bowlers out of the ground. Their run chase was a success because they played intelligently; aiming for a run a ball while capitalising on any bad balls bowled and getting boundaries that way. Likewise, I've witnessed some brilliant bowling so far in the tournament, both from spinners and seamers. Excitement can come in differnt forms, it's not all about gung ho, swing-and-a-miss batting.

Interviewing players while they're actually playing is also something that I've grown to see the benefit of. Gaining an insight into what the fielding player is thinking during the game is something that rarely happens, although due to the sub stadard questions actually asked, it still rarely happens even with the inteview.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that depsite my initial reservations I can see now that there is a place for all three formats of the game. I will forver adore test match cricket and this summer I cannot wait to sit down and watch as many full days of the Ashes test as is possible. I love the way that matches in the test arena can change from day to day, depending on a myriad of factors and tactical ability plays as much of a part as technical proficiency does. But I also recognise the appeal of Twenty20, both in the here and now excitement of the matches and also the wider impact and influence it can have in attracting a whole new audience into enjoying the longer version of the game.

Just no-one mention Alan Stanford...




Listen to the new Title Fight.

xo