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By Will 3 months ago Leave a comment on this post
“McCullum’s going spastic,” one of my colleagues said over messenger while I watched one, lone, bearded spectator trudge around the Arctic Bowl in Southampton in the mizzle. I didn’t see much of Brendon McCullum’s explosive 158, but the facts and stats behind such innings illuminate it perfectly adequately.
Let’s start with the facts. He hit 10 fours and 13 sixes, one of them an outrageous paddle over his left shoulder off a disbelieving Zaheer Khan, and ended up scoring more runs than anyone has ever done in the brief history Twenty20 cricket. The previous record-holder - Cameron White, who hit 141 not out for Somerset against Worcestershire two years ago but contributed just six to the Bangalore’s pitiful total - spent most of the innings watching helplessly as one ball after another disappeared into the night sky. The pre-match fireworks had nothing on this.
McCullum’s penchant for the spectacular is not new. Only last month he creamed 170 off 108 balls to help Otago make mincemeat of Auckland in the
final of New Zealand’s State Shield, but on that occasion hardly anyone bothered to turn up to watch. Now, he did the business in front of well over 40,000 fans, most of them barracking at the start for their local side but many giving McCullum the ovation he deserved as he took the Bangalore bowlers to pieces. Fair enough: it was a knock that transcended partiality.
What cricket is this? People have termed Twenty20 the sport’s fast-food, which correctly implies it’s cheap, nasty and fills you with guilt. But that doesn’t convey just how fleeting it really is. It’s amphetamined cricket. Ravers’ cricket. Cricket for a trance nation. Dumbed down. Speeded up. Some brilliant shots, some awful slogs, much shorter boundaries. Cheerleaders. Too much colour. Where is this all heading?
Tags: amphetamine, bonkers, brendon-mccullum, indian premier league, IPL, trance, twenty20 |
I watched this innings and it is unbelievable. He played every shot of the cricket book.
I also want to make note of this short form of the game. England stole this form of game from NZ. Martin Crow introduced CricMax in late 90’s with two innings of 10 overs. It also had Max Zones and if the batsman hits through the MaxZone the score was doubled. I think it was good because it is a bit different and there is a chance of scoring 12 runs in one hit.
Lalith
I just can’t get my head round Ganguly, Ponting and McCullum all being on the same team… I’m used to cricket being a nationalistic thing.
If this event was a one off, I don’t think anyone would have any reservations about it. It’s how it could change cricket as a whole. Fantastic comment about linking it to fast food Will, and like a chippy on a Friday night, I think the IPL will be here to stay and people will start to enjoy it big time.
It’s almost inventing another sport, cheerleaders at a cricket match? The world twenty20 thing is coming to England and Lord’s next year, surely there can’t be cheerleaders parading by the members? Or will the members even bother going along?
Members won’t be there I would guess. They aren’t huge fans of Twenty20!!
Cheerleaders at Lords just wouldn’t look right would it - fair enough they are trying to generate more interest around cricket (although the IPL is more about the $$$) but it they won’t be in it for what REAL cricket is all about - tactical bowling changes, a nervy ten minutes to bat before tea, a field change that comes off….that’s the cricket I know and love.
As I mentioned the IPL, did anyone see Pietersen’s quote the other day? Basically saying that Chris Gayle text him asking why he wasn’t in the IPL yet, to which KP replied -’it’s not the right time yet.’ Gayle then text back with a message simply containing ‘$$$$$$$’.
That’s just not cricket!
Why American cheerleaders? and cowboy hats. And baseball caps? Very 80’s - I kept expecting Gary Glitter. Or the Village People.
To be fair, I don’t think anyone actually watches T20 for the cheerleaders. I personally watch it simply because the cricket is exciting, although admittedly some things like the fan dunking and the on-field interviews are entertaining.
What a lot of people forget is that cricket shouldn’t be finding amongst its various forms but it should be fighting with other global sports which are more popular.
It is not suddenly that this T20 monster is being dumped down the spectators throats. Since popularity of test and one day cricket was waning, in order to bring ppl back to cricket and also to target new markets cricket had to be reinvented.
Sport too has to operate according to the principles of free market economics. you produce that for what demand is.
and lets not be envious of the money. overvalued markets soon correct themselves.
Its the future of cricket and its here to stay. As I mentioned on my blog, 18th April will go down in history as the day that changed cricket forever.
I’m used to cricket being a nationalistic sport, but I have always fantasized abt Sachin and Jayasuriya or Gibbs and Hayden opening together, Wasim and McGrath sharing the new ball, and Murali and Warne in the same attack.
This is what the IPL provides us with. That is its USP for the global audience. Even the Indian cos I’m unsure how loyal one can be to city based teams with only 2-3 players from that city.
Ur comparison to fast food is apt. I read this somewhere:
“People like to fine dine (test matches) once in a while, and frequently they will also go out to regular restaurants for an evening out (ODIs), but everyone loves their quick fix of fast food (T20s)”
That’s nice, Q, about the global audience,
trouble is, here in Sydney, we’re having difficulty being part of that global audience. Except in the middle of the night.
At this very moment, Gilchrist is batting somewhere in India and the only thing I know about it is the scorecard from Cricinfo.
Don’t know what it’s like elsewhere for coverage - how the rest of the global audience out there going?
Here in Dubai we’re getting it during the day. Isn’t channel 10 showing it in Australia?
Yes, Channel 10 is showing it, theoretically. But only after its normal programming ie. in the middle of the night. It did promise earlier starts but they haven’t eventuated yet.
Funnily enough, they used Symonds for their ad campaign - he’s batting at the moment but we’re not seeing him.
Wonderful scenes at the Eden Gardens Will. Packed stadium, Symonds batting, Ishant Sharma with the ball. Bowls a few and then Ponting comes up to him with a few words of advice.
This is exactly what I’m talking about when I describe the USP of the IPL.
Here in NZ we were getting it live from Eden Gardens on our Sky Sport 1 channel last night.
I dunno about all this.I like 20-20.
2020 is Diaper cricket.
Overrated sloggers.
Irrelevant bowlers.
Made for ‘wannabe dudes’.
Hey, Amit, good to see you so dutifully toeing the capitalist line. Free market economics are destroying the planet, actually, and the more institutions that fall into line the faster the process becomes. 20/20’s like baseball and American football - real sports modified to cater to people with short attention spans and huge butts.
“Free market economics are destroying the planet…”
Hmm. I wonder if there are any alternatives to free market economics. Maybe we can make everyone’s pay equal, no matter how much work they actually do, and forbid anyone from owning their own businesses to ensure that they make no more than anyone else. Yep, that’ll work.
“20/20’s like baseball and American football- real sports modified to cater to people with short attention spans and huge butts.”
I like T20. I also happen to like Test cricket. I find the assumption that you must like one or the other very amusing- in fact, it’s nothing more than pretentious snobbery.
“I find the assumption that you must like one or the other very amusing- in fact, it’s nothing more than pretentious snobbery.”
You’d have to be blind not to realize that this is a choice that will be thrust upon us very shortly.
By administrators, of course, who will have to cancel/reduce test matches in order to keep IPL players fit and fresh for their punchdrunk paymasters.
And also by players themselves, for I don’t see how we will get the next generation of Dravid, Donalds and Warnes when the kids grow up learning only to slog or to bowl military medium.
Bullshit.Thats how I describe the doubters.These idiots will continue to to doubt anything good the game produces.Instead of being rigid,people need to understand there is lots of scope for innovation ,imagination and risk-taking in 20-20.
Obituaries for test cricket were written when ODI’s started too.Whats happened boys??
Some guy says it’ll produce military medium bowlers.
Brother ,brett lee, ishant sharma were huge draws.Weren’t they??
Any way when the dravids and the warnes are playing it and whole heartedly supporting it, i don’t see the point in your argument.
When you talk of dravid, go back to the late 90’s.Now come back to this era.See the difference??That’s primarily because of ODI’s.See how many runs the dravid’s and tendulkars of the world get from their paddle sweeps in tests.You’ll have your answer.Warne flighted the ball in the game against my local team MOHALI.Look what happened??The most low profile team has won a game without it’s key players.
These doom-predicters were at it then ,they’re at it now.
Personally I see 20-20 affecting ODI’s and
hasing them out.Which would be a relief,might I add.
Test cricket has become exciting and results are produced.Think back to the old ages when there were timeless tests and in the middle ages of cricket when there were 0-0 scorelines.
Also to say that there’s too much colour and to despise cheerleaders is childish.Finally teams like india and pakistan will lay emphasis on fitness because of 20-20.Australia and RSA have shown the way.Ind-pak have to follow.English cricket elite will try it’s best to make the game boring, like it has all these years.(No ,1 ashes series doesn’t make your team exciting).
I don’t think we fans need to listen to any1.Just watch and enjoy.
” like T20. I also happen to like Test cricket. I find the assumption that you must like one or the other very amusing- in fact, it’s nothing more than pretentious snobbery.”
I completely agree with marcus.I like both,i think there is scope for skill in both.You need to have a brain that has enough mass to pick up whats going on and understand quickly enough.
“raj” or watever your name is, don’t pretend to be a purist.Don’t try too hard.
Well said, AS Gill.
Another thing many of the doubters don’t mention. If Test cricket does effectively become a niche sport, even then it will survive. Have a meal at a good resteraunt lately? Seen a foreign film? Seen a luxury car on the streets? All of these industries are supported almost entirely by niche markets. They may not be as profitable as McDonald’s, Hollywood blockbusters or less flash cars, but they still exist, because there’s a market out there that demands their presence. And so it will be with Test cricket. If it becomes a niche thing, so what? The players will still want to play it, there will still be enough people supporting it and the administrators will still schedule it.
To AS Gill:
“brett lee, ishant sharma were huge draws.Weren’t they??”
I dont know, you tell me. I was busy watching a pretender called Yuvraj strutting around like a pimp. Btw, Brett Lee is not fit to lick the jockstrap of the bowlers of the 90s, so calling him a fast bowler is an insult. And compared to a pool of around 20 overhyped willow hoickers, if you can only come up with a mere 2 quickie names, then I FEAR for the future of bowling.
“When you talk of dravid, go back to the late 90’s.Now come back to this era.See the difference??”
I see an alltime great like Dravid getting booed and ridiculed by sarcastic fans and commentators while a toiletroll like Yuvraj singh or an ape-like Symonds get the plaudits. So dont see your point about how 20-20 helping nurture proper quality batsmen.
“Test cricket has become exciting and results are produced.”
Again, that’s a batsman talking. Or a batsman-worshipping Indian fan. The most exciting tests happened in the 70s when eveyr team had fab pace attacks.
” think there is scope for skill in both.”
Sure, there’s a skill in kissing good ass too. The only skill you need in twenty20 as a bowler is to cut down runscoring and bowl back-of-length.
Marcus, to your point about the existence of niche markets, here’s what Gideon Haigh wrote today:
“The argument is advanced that this need not concern us: we are assured that Twenty20 will be only one of cricket’s variants. There will still be Test cricket, first-class cricket, 50-over matches. Yet with the animal spirits of the market liberated, how realistic is this? Already players are falling over themselves to make IPL hay, egged on by managers taking a fair clip themselves. The likelihood is that the objective of the majority of cricketers worldwide will become not to play dowdy old domestic cricket that leads on to hoary old national honours, the longer forms of the game that prepare the most finished practitioners. The economically rational behaviour will be to adapt their methods to maximise their IPL employment opportunities. Consider for a moment just who is closer to the role model of the moment: is it Rahul Dravid, the “Wall” with his 10,000 Test runs, or Yuvraj Singh, who once hit six sixes in an over? Who will a rising young cricketer earn more by emulating? If maximising individual income is what matters - and if any cricketer feels otherwise, he is keeping such a heresy to himself - then Yuvraj might well be the cookie-cutter cricketer of the next decade. Twenty20 has rightly been called a batsman’s game, but it is a very particular kind of batsman: the type whose game is built on eye and strength. If a new Dravid were to begin emerging now, I suspect he would face a career as a second-class cricket citizen.”
Raj
I respect Gideon Haigh, but I don’t think he’s necessarily right. Have any players said that they don’t want to play Test cricket? I know all about the infamous survey of the Australian players, but saying you might retire early to play more IPL isn’t the same thing as saying that you don’t want to play Test cricket AT ALL.
As to your point of fearing for bowling- look at the standout players of the T20 WC. Umar Gul, Daniel Vettori, Shaihid Afridi, RP Singh. All of them took plenty of wickets by adhering to the traditional bowling skills of full-pitched pace and spin bowling. I think T20 could be the very best thing for bowlers. Now that the batsmen will be going after them all the time, they’ll be forced to bowl fuller and straighter, with greater accuracy- these skills will transfer themselves to the Test and ODI arena. Do you think it’s just coincidence that over the last 2-3 years we’ve seen more exciting up-and-coming fast bowling prospects than we have in the previous 5?
Mracus,
amen to that!
It was fantastic to see Asif and McGrath bring the Deccan Biffers back down to earth.
Here bowler worsipping watever you are.I don’t think you’re a fan any way, boy.
“Brett lee is not good enough to lick the jockstraps—”
that disqualifies you from a response.
90’s had great bowlers , they’re gone now.A new set of bowlers have emerged who will become legends ,give them time.If lack of pace bowlers is your problem,or pacers getting less moolah when compared to batsman than you’re in the wrong place.
Irfan was a big draw too.If you’re so interestes in pimps, then go surf pimp sites.They’ll suit you too.
RP,sreesanth,irfan,zaheer,ishant,gul,asif,malinga,vaas,lee,bracken,morne morkel,albie morkel,ntini,kallis,steyn etc.
Johnson isn’t playing over injury concerns and fred flintoff isn’t allowed.
you have an inferiority complex, acute at that.You seem to think every1 is overconfident and overhyped.Or maybe you have extra sympathy for the weak, and dravid is weak in 20-20.
Yuvraj is starting out in test, so is symonds to some extent.Give them time.Like I said , look what dravid was and how many runs he gets of shots that were alien to him 10 years ago.He would smack a ball straight to the fielder again and again and get out.Look what he’s become now.
Cricketers under the age of 17 are only allowed to play test in india.So there.
You say technique?? I say the JAT from najafgarh-Virender sehwag.Centuries in every country he’s played in and an average of over 50.Ganguly doesn’t have great technique, he made more runs than dravid on a difficult kanpur wicket against 2 genuine 150 kmph bowlerd didn’t he??
Dravid symphatiser is what you are??Sympathy is for the weak and the weak shall perish.
We have enough and more fast bowling prospects around the world who even with this hectic schedule manage to keep their pace up.Just taht they’re all starting out and yeah you are right batsman are given more importance.That will remain.Thats a universal problem,not just 202-20.Please show precision in your arguments and ask questions with clarity.If you have a genuine problem than go ahead,but if you despise the huge pay packets than I fear you’re just another jealous fan.(Probably one of the 100 odd fans in india who don’t like yuvi).We in chandigarh and punjab are proud of our JAT boy.If you think he’s a pretender than wait forthese greats to retire than we’ll see who wins more tests for their country.
By your logic which places every1 on the high self-esteem chart, i place a question.
Did the dravid’s and ganguly’s with their hopeless fielding and running skills that are detrimental in today’s ODI game ,willingly sit out??No these ‘egoistic pimps’ continue to have an urge to fill their pockets.
Thats in your words boy.
Hopefully you’ll understand.
BTW Raj:
‘Ape-like symonds’ was funny.LOL.
I saw a T-shirt in a multiplex here in chandigarh with this written on it.
SINGH IS KING,SYMONDS IS KONG.
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