Sri Lanka and India remain hot contenders
by Julian Guyer
CRICKET: LONDON, April 25, 2010: Twenty20 may have spawned
movie star-backed franchises and a frantic dash for cash, but the world
championship is a reminder of how nation against nation contests remain
central to cricket.
When Twenty20 was launched as a professional format in England, in
2003, the emphasis was on ‘fun’ and attracting new audiences to the
sport.
However, the combination of a game played by professionals and the
creation of a World Twenty20 in 2007 has led the format to become an
increasingly serious business.
Twenty20 has found itself hailed as both the saviour of cricket and
its potential ruination.
Texan billionaire Allen Stanford, who now faces fraud and
money-laundering charges in the United States, used Twenty20 as a
vehicle for his own tournament in the West Indies.
And the ongoing tax probe into the seemingly more stable and
‘official’ Indian Premier League (IPL) threatens to unravel that
tournament too.
Officials in England and at the International Cricket Council (ICC)
have repeatedly insisted they will not kill the golden goose that is
Twenty20.
But an increasing number of Twenty20 fixtures, at all levels, have
been shoehorned into already stuffed calendars.
The 2010 World Twenty20, which starts in the Caribbean on Friday, is
a case in point.
It is only a year ago since Pakistan beat Sri Lanka in the final of
the second edition of the championship at Lord’s.
The tournament, which is meant to take place every two years, is
heading to the Caribbean to set it off on a new cycle and so avoid a
clash with the 2011 50-over World Cup in Asia.
This year’s edition will be as notable for the players who aren’t in
the West Indies as the ones who are.
Top players out
Twenty20 may be the ‘future’ of cricket but it’s a future the likes
of Australia captain Ricky Ponting, England skipper Andrew Strauss and
India great Sachin Tendulkar have decided they want no part of, having
opted out of the format in a bid to preserve themselves for Tests and
one-dayers.
Critics claim the currency of big-hitting, so much a feature of
Twenty20, has been devalued by the frequency with which sixes are struck
on grounds where boundaries are brought in further and further.
But the international context of a World Twenty20 means that few who
were there will forget West Indies captain Chris Gayle smashing
Australia fast bowler Brett Lee for stunning straight sixes at the Oval
last year.
And, as now Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi proved with his leg-spin,
every so often bowlers get their just reward too.
Also, the shorter the format, the seemingly greater chance of an
upset as exemplified by the Netherlands’s dramatic win over England at
Lord’s in 2009.
Afghanistan’s efforts in qualifying for the World Twenty20 are
already the stuff of a Bollywood movie and none of their Test rivals
will relish the outsiders as opponents.
The dropping on disciplinary grounds of several senior players after
a wretched tour of Australia has weakened Pakistan although in Afridi
and all-rounder Abdul Razzaq they have two proved match-winners.
Sri Lanka remain a force, as indeed do India, while South Africa
would love nothing more than to shed their “chokers” tag and New Zealand
upset the odds.
England have never won a major one-day tournament and few expect that
to change in the West Indies. But there are signs that, belatedly, they
may be starting to get grips with Twenty20.
And the hosts should not be discounted too in what is an important
event for everyone involved in West Indies cricket.
The 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean was criticised for pricing local
fans out of the market and a lack of traditional West Indian cricket
atmosphere.
If officials have learned from that experience, and the signs are
they have, the tournament’s success will then stand or fall on the
players’ brilliance. And that’s the same in any class of cricket.
AFP
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