When T20 matches are promoted they are often talked about as fast-paced entertainment or rock n' roll cricket.
When T20 matches are promoted they are often talked about as "fast-paced entertainment" or "rock n' roll cricket". It's time the officials changed their approach and came up with a more appropriate theme for a game that has the potential to be their major money spinner.
They could do worse than promote T20 as "Entertaining cricket". At least that way the officials are pushing the notion that T20 is primarily a game of cricket that just happens to run a similar length to a foot stomping, arm-waving, hit-studded concert. This is important because the format will live or die on the standard of the on-field product rather than having the most scantily dressed dancing girls, the loudest music or the most famous faces in the crowd.
Dangerous path
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Team India celebrates after beating Pakistan in the final of the Twenty20 World Championship in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2007. pic/AP |
It's fine to have entertainment for the fans in the change of innings and before and after the game but not during; by doing so the officials are implying the cricket may not be worthy. To allow players to be miked up for television in "social" games is acceptable but during a tournament when the teams are fighting for a trophy is a dangerous path to follow. There is the implication that winning the match isn't the players' highest priority.
The latest T20 controversy surrounding New Zealand's Brendon McCullum highlights the lack of forethought that went into formulating the rules and displays a distinct lack of care when it comes to nurturing the game. The rules allowed McCullum to represent NSW despite him already being contracted to the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. This means the Kiwi 'keeper has two chances to qualify for the Champions League tournament, another example of the administrators making a mockery of the game.
McCullum is not the only player in this ambiguous position but by allowing NSW to sign him once they'd made the final of the Australian competition and were therefore already qualified for the Champions League, serves to highlight a serious anomaly in the rules.
Right from the outset the IPL hierarchy promoted their tournament as "similar to the English Premier League football competition".
Well Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't have the choice of representing either Manchester United or Sporting Lisbon in qualifying for European competition. Ronaldo either plays for United at club level or else he represents his country Portugal in international competition. Surely this is a preferable policy in ensuring the integrity of the game.u00a0u00a0
Right time
The time is right for the administrators to sit down and map out a future for cricket, which entails a sane playing schedule and the suitable promotion of all three forms of the game. At the moment, scheduling has taken on a life of its own that's creating an administrative nightmare, a physical grind for the players and in some quarters, indifference from the paying public.u00a0
Perhaps, one way to begin untangling the scheduling mess would be to gradually separate Test series and ODI tournament's from T20, eventually leaving the latest form of the game purely for franchised clubs.
However, the problem with any plan to restructure international cricket is it will always be hampered by tradition. And any move to streamline first-class competitions like county cricket, Sheffield Shield and Ranji Trophy, which are necessary to produce the international players of the future, would be met with a storm of protest.
Therefore, it's going to take some creative thinking to come up with a proposal that satisfies every country's needs and those of the game both in the present and for the foreseeable future. Because the international game is the financial fuel that runs the cricket machine, any viable structure will have to be built from the top down. To draw up a palatial penthouse and work down to a no-frills basement will take some vision and it would also help if the architect had a master's degree in both foreign diplomacy and financial wizardry.
Anyone who saw the closing stages of the World T20 tournament in South Africa and the final of the IPL tournament will vouch for the skill and nerve required to play the latest version of the game. It's important to ensure that T20 is promoted as an exciting form of cricket, thereby implying that it's also good entertainment.
