T20 is bawdy enertainment compared to the real Mc Coy, yet it also poses the biggest single threat to the game of Cricket ever encountered with it’s growing influential lure of the almighty $.

The newer generations have not the patience, appreciation of history or subtley to ensure Test Crickets future, which is destined to become little more than that games quirky equivalent of Royal Tennis.

I would add that in Twenty20 partnerships are critical for the batting side. With only 20 overs it becomes extremely difficult to win if you lose too many wickets, and consequently you have too many new batsmen come to the crease. The onus needs to be on the players who are already there in the middle – once they hit form – to stay there.

I agree with poster above who says batsmen can have too much running through their mind. They just need to work towards that overal target of 160-180. Sometimes they bat as if the target is infinity!

1) Win the toss and bowl first. It is much easier to pace yourself (team) when you know exactly what the necessary run-rates are. You can then break down the chase into 4 over periods.

2) Have 2 front line quick bowlers, 1 specialist spinner, and have batsmen who can bowl medium pace or part-time spin. It is very hard to bowl a side out in 20 overs. It is more important to slow the run-rate down. The more bowlers you have you can put it on the spot makes it easier to set fields to stop the runs. Also having medium pace and slow bowlers makes it harder to hit ‘maximums’ because the batsmen must make the pace of the ball. It is to easy for very quick bowlers to get edges that go to the boundary or hit off line with wides etc.

3) Have sweepers to stop the boundaries.

4) Have a balanced side with a few big-hitter (specialist) and batsmen who are quick between the wickets with a solid technique. It is a must in this form of the game to score singles of every ball. Partnerships & steady run-rates are the key to building a good platform to blast off in the last 5 overs.

5) It is important to stay still at the crease. The people who play the best shots are those who stay still. Moving all around the crease before the ball is bowled (backing away to leg, or moving to the off-side) is not recommended. Changing your position in the crease, or walking down the wicket is the best option when putting bowlers off their lines.

On point #6 I agree about the importance of six hitters in a Twenty20 team however the ability to fluently knock the ball into the right places and take ones should not be looked over. If you look at the amount of singles scored by teams in one-day games- generally the team with the most amount wins. Singles are the things that keeps an innings ticking over, boundaries alone aren’t the answer. Obviously hitting every ball to the rope or over it isn’t possible, the runs that come in between the boundaries I would say are just as important. Hence why the Aussies were looking for plenty of ones early doors to get their innings underway.

My piece of advice would be to pick 8 genuine batsman, leaving a three-man pace attack. Yes you will only get 12 overs out of them but i believe thats all you need. The change of pace and veritety is the best to take wickets and even part time bowlers would appear hard to hit. Michael Clarke can bowl his orthodox and maintain a steady line and length. Thats four bowlers, and people like a symo to role over a handful of his offies and mediums (i know medium pace is not great in twenty20 but he can use his change of pace and spin to his advantage). There we go 20 overs are covered with the likes of Watto and Noffke also avaliable for a throw down and a big hit with the bat.