FOURTH UMPIRE
July 20, 2006: To argue against Twenty 20 cricket is a bit futile, now that the BCCI has been forced to agree to participate in the world championship in South Africa next year. From the board’s point of view, the only thing to do is to prepare its team well for the tournament. Of course, the financial whiz kids can also think of various ways of milking money from the new slap-dash format.
But the fact remains that the ‘shortest’ variety leaves you with a lot of doubts. First of all, why is it that cricket should be the only outdoor game with a normal, shorter and shortest versions? Take football, hockey, volleyball or basket ball. You name the game and they have standardised the playing time and the rules and regulations. Why can’t cricket alone do this? The obvious answer is that the game by its very nature is slow and a bit dragging. Chess is another which has a ‘rapid’ format. But while rapid chess games have their place, normal chess is considered the real thing.
What the ICC could have done is to keep 20/20 variety for exhibition purposes and to draw crowds. Charge the same ticket rates or even more but don’t give official status. And don’t consider them as ‘records’. In cricket, we already have a problem remembering all the ‘world records’ in both Test cricket and ODIs. Now, once the latest variety comes in, who can remember these records as well?
It was Australia that successfully introduced separate teams for Tests and ODIs. Well almost. They had one-day specialists being flown in once the Test series was over. The level of competition being such, teams can now be expected to bring 20/20 specialists. While all this is good for youngsters aspiring to play the game at the highest level and make money out of it, not to mention journalists who specialise in covering the game, it is bound to leave the spectator confused on what constitutes real cricket genius.
In all probability, someone like the Indian skipper Rahul Dravid may find himself all at sea in the new brand of cricket. Every delivery will have to be sent screaming to the fence and traditional values of cricket like patience or temperament will have no place. Somebody like Atul Badade who had a reputation for hitting sixers before he came into the Indian team, only to leave in a bit of a disgrace, will rue the fact that he was not born a little later.
Also, be rest assured that 20/20 will hasten the end of Test cricket. Once you get used to this 3 hour games, the ODIs which take half a day will become the longer, legitimate version and Tests a thing of the past. And, nobody in the Test team may figure in the 20/20 side at all. For one, it will take a different set of skills including good biceps and secondly, how can the same set of players play so many matches?
It doesn’t take a pundit to predict that bowlers would suffer some ignominy. It won’t matter what kind of a spinner or swinger you are. Taking wickets won’t be that much of a concern as much as stopping the boundaries and sixers. Fielding will reach newer heights and another fallout could be that 400 plus scores will become the norm in ODIs.
July 20, 2006: To argue against Twenty 20 cricket is a bit futile, now that the BCCI has been forced to agree to participate in the world championship in South Africa next year. From the board’s point of view, the only thing to do is to prepare its team well for the tournament. Of course, the financial whiz kids can also think of various ways of milking money from the new slap-dash format.
But the fact remains that the ‘shortest’ variety leaves you with a lot of doubts. First of all, why is it that cricket should be the only outdoor game with a normal, shorter and shortest versions? Take football, hockey, volleyball or basket ball. You name the game and they have standardised the playing time and the rules and regulations. Why can’t cricket alone do this? The obvious answer is that the game by its very nature is slow and a bit dragging. Chess is another which has a ‘rapid’ format. But while rapid chess games have their place, normal chess is considered the real thing.
What the ICC could have done is to keep 20/20 variety for exhibition purposes and to draw crowds. Charge the same ticket rates or even more but don’t give official status. And don’t consider them as ‘records’. In cricket, we already have a problem remembering all the ‘world records’ in both Test cricket and ODIs. Now, once the latest variety comes in, who can remember these records as well?
It was Australia that successfully introduced separate teams for Tests and ODIs. Well almost. They had one-day specialists being flown in once the Test series was over. The level of competition being such, teams can now be expected to bring 20/20 specialists. While all this is good for youngsters aspiring to play the game at the highest level and make money out of it, not to mention journalists who specialise in covering the game, it is bound to leave the spectator confused on what constitutes real cricket genius.
In all probability, someone like the Indian skipper Rahul Dravid may find himself all at sea in the new brand of cricket. Every delivery will have to be sent screaming to the fence and traditional values of cricket like patience or temperament will have no place. Somebody like Atul Badade who had a reputation for hitting sixers before he came into the Indian team, only to leave in a bit of a disgrace, will rue the fact that he was not born a little later.
Also, be rest assured that 20/20 will hasten the end of Test cricket. Once you get used to this 3 hour games, the ODIs which take half a day will become the longer, legitimate version and Tests a thing of the past. And, nobody in the Test team may figure in the 20/20 side at all. For one, it will take a different set of skills including good biceps and secondly, how can the same set of players play so many matches?
It doesn’t take a pundit to predict that bowlers would suffer some ignominy. It won’t matter what kind of a spinner or swinger you are. Taking wickets won’t be that much of a concern as much as stopping the boundaries and sixers. Fielding will reach newer heights and another fallout could be that 400 plus scores will become the norm in ODIs.
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