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    Here’s hoping South Africa can put on a decent show

    By Scott last year, mid-September Leave a comment on this post

    We are two days out from a ‘brave new world’, with the Twenty20 World Cup about to start in South Africa. I must confess to having mixed feelings, at best, about this form of the game. It certainly can be entertaining, but it is a form of cricket that seems to be fundamentally slanted in favour of the batsmen, leading to ’slogathons’, rather than an even contest between bat and ball.

    But my own preferences are neither here nor there. It seems to me that for the sake of cricket generally, this tournament needs to be successful. 2007 so far has not been a cricketing year to get enthused about; there has been very little Test cricket so far, and the 50 over World Cup was such a let down that it damaged rather then enhanced the game. The English summer failed to reach memorable heights either, with jelly beans rather then batting or bowling providing the most talked about incident.

    So it is incumbent on South Africa to put on a good show to boost the morale of cricket lovers. Having the tournament being won by a rank outsider, rather then Australia, would also help this cause. But at the very least, happy cricketers playing exciting cricket in front of large crowds is certainly a step in the right direction. The good news on that score is that the South African authorities seem to have taken on board the lessons to be learned from the West Indies tournament.

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    7 Responses to “Here’s hoping South Africa can put on a decent show”

  • SpryCorpse wrote:
    September 10th, 2007 at 1.33 am

    I’m quite happy to see the shorter forms of the game over-extend themselves and shoot themselves in the foot.
    As you quite rightly pointed out, Scott, there has been far too little Test (proper) cricket this year.

    It’s time those in charge realised that the grab for money will ultimately damage the game.
    Test matches should be the main game and held up by the sport as the ultimate cricket competition.

    The one-dayers and 20-20 games can be entertaining sideshows in small doses but they quickly become meaningless when they proliferate.

  • Rusty wrote:
    September 10th, 2007 at 10.43 am

    It’s such a specialized form of the game, favouring the batsmen more than ever, that it’s hard to see it being that popular with cricket fans, but it may well be a good device for bringing in new fans. But it probably all comes down to how much money it makes.

    Will it change the way younger cricketers lay? Slogging sixers is mildly entertaining for a while but not as a lifestyle!

  • Uncle j rod wrote:
    September 10th, 2007 at 1.15 pm

    Navjot Sidhu said it best.

    If one-day cricket was pyjama cricket, then Twenty20 is underwear cricket

  • Wraye wrote:
    September 10th, 2007 at 3.37 pm

    I hope it will be a success for SA, whoever wins. Though being a self-confessed Test nut, I actually enjoy T20. I’m sure, like a lot of fans out there, I don’t actually get to see enough Test cricket as I’d like to as I live beyond the Test world and so would be lost without my PC.

    Moreover, if the T20 goes well, it will help the cause to get cricket into the Olympics which would be no bad thing for the sport all round, I believe.

    So what if it is a slogfest, some of us beggars can’t afford to be choosers! ;)

  • Will wrote:
    September 17th, 2007 at 8.47 pm

    Hello all. Back from my travels. Looks like it’s been a good tournament?

  • ac wrote:
    September 21st, 2007 at 12.11 pm

    A very well done tournament ……very well done indeed
    I am hooked to this format of cricket now

  • ac wrote:
    September 21st, 2007 at 12.21 pm

    TO Rusty :
    I don’t think that now,after 20-20 WC final stages.. we can say that this game is for batsmen only as …so many matches of around 140 scores went to the wire..ind-pak,eng-saf,eng-nz,ban-pak,
    ind-saf .hardly any one sided matches …and again very few matches in which batsman won the game fully o their hands.
    Infact I have seen batsmen dominating the bowling more in 50-50 ….here they are under pressure right from 1st ball…not very easy to slog …how many not-so-good batters played well here …hardly any…most of top-scorers were those who are excellent 50-50 and test batsmen….. good contest and need of the hour format …
    3 hr one game over is not bad considering we saw good catches …brilliant fieldings …great shots …wickets shattering, everything compressed in around 3 hours ..
    maybe in next few years we all will see france against england in Paris…or USA against AUS in NEW YORK…and maybe they ll win ….lets admit people don’t have spare time …nowadays … you can gonvince your girl friend or wife …not to switch channels for 3 hours not for 8-9 hours….
    And anyway SAFs again showed that they are CHOKERS can’t blame it on anyyyyone except themselves this time ….after making a TEST STANDARD pitch covered with grass to F*&^ indian batting line up…falling in their own trap…

    waiting for semis …
    I can smell a INDO-PAK final WAR …..on Monday …

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