Australian Twenty20 in a time warp
Roar Guru By vinay verma, 10 Jun 2009 Vinay Verma is a Roar Guru
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- Australian Cricket, Cricket, One day cricket, Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket
Cricket coaches, from schoolboys to the Centre of Excellence, need to rethink their ideas and throw out the Alf Gover Coaching manual.
Since the advent and subsequent proliferation of One Day Cricket, in the late seventies, Australia and England have been slow to change. The first World Cups were won by the West Indies.
Naturally gifted athletes all and not over coached. Think Fredericks, Camacho, Cammie Smith and then Viv Richards, Lloyd, Greenidge and Haynes.
India won in 1983 with Srikanth at the top and Kapil in the lower middle order. Lots of bits and pieces players.
Australia won in 1987, with Steve Waugh and Dean Jones being influential.
Imran Khan got Pakistan up in 1992 and Sanath Jayasuriya and Kalu changed all conventional thinking with their kamakazi assaults in 1996.
Suddenly the first fifteen overs were producing a run a ball.
Australia caught up and won the last three. Now they have to play catchup again and think differently. It’s no longer hit and giggle. It’s serious money and there is no doubt that some like Ponting and Clarke can adjust.
Selectors have to look at the Pomerbachs and the Ronchis.
D’ Costa, who coached Michael Clarke, has coached Philip Hughes in an entirely different manner. Philip Hughes has a penchant for cutting over the top and is not afraid to slog sweep when in the nineties.
Philip Hughes has been coached to play all three forms of the game. More coaches will increasingly follow D’Costa’s blueprint.
Properly handled, Twenty20 can energise the longer versions and, more importantly, sustain them. It is an increasingly fast paced world and the paying punters will demand and get what they want.
It is irrelevant that traditionalists decry this new kid on the block. I was one that rubbished the Pyjama Game. I am optimistic that there will be a balance in the future.
For now, the numbers favour Twenty20. Players like Kallis, Ponting, Clarke and Smith all want to be part of this new game and its attendant rewards.
More power to them because for far too long cricketers were paid slave wages.
Finally, the administrators will take heed and enforce 90 overs in a day. If the Tests are attractive, the fans will attend. The last six Tests between Australia and South Africa produced entertaining and riveting cricket.
There is a new generation waiting to make its mark.
I would not write cricket’s epitaph just yet. All three forms will feed off each other and could all emerge attractive and viable.
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- Australian Cricket, Cricket, One day cricket, Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket
June 10th 2009 @ 10:08pm
vinay verma said | June 10th 2009 @ 10:08pm | Report comment
WCR. Actually Jason gillespie and Michael Bevan are fronting this US adventure. Not sanctioned by the ICC and in all likelihood its participants will be banned. Wont matter because they are either retired or already banned. It will be interesting in the case of Gillespie and bevan as they presumably get Superannuation from CA. Someone should tell these administrators you cant be tried for the same crime twice.
June 10th 2009 @ 10:13pm
Working Class Rugger said | June 10th 2009 @ 10:13pm | Report comment
Why would they frown upon a push into the American market. If it’s a success Cricket in the US could get a hell of a boost. They have only recently appointed a CEO.
June 10th 2009 @ 10:47pm
vinay verma said | June 10th 2009 @ 10:47pm | Report comment
WCR: It is about control and power. If you recall the ICL started the 20/20 in India and initially the BCCI derided the concept. When they saw the interest they decided to start their own and actually improved on the model. Having secured a market they set about monopolising it. In fact they have consolidated the market and virtually closed down the so called Rebel league by offering an amnesty to the former ICL players and support staff. At last count 79 of the 120 odd players in the ICL had come back to the fold. This is what leads me to surmise there will be a secondary minor league which will feed the major league.
There is a decent market for cricket in the Miami and new York area with the Asian diaspora and the West indian proximity.And if the truth be known the ICC is dictated to by the BCCI.
June 10th 2009 @ 10:52pm
Jason said | June 10th 2009 @ 10:52pm | Report comment
T20 cricket is abomination. The fact that lesser players like Shaun Marsh, Shane Watson, Yuvraj Singh, Ian Harvey and even an over the hill part timer like Gilly can excel at T20 proves this.
I took the time to watch a fair bit of the IPL and it became pretty clear pretty quickly that T20 has already become as formulaic as the much maligned 50 overs cricket. It is all about score at 10 an over for the first 6 overs, save wickets for the next 8-10 overs while the slow bowlers (not necessarily spinners) do their thing with full and tight bowling which mostly goes for singles and then try to score 50+ off the last 5 overs.
It’s 50 over cricket x 40% but without the ebbs and flows.
I really hope IPL moves to twice a season because the whole concept will be dead in a couple of years as fans realise what a crock it is.
And the Australian selectors should not put Phil Hughes within a hundred miles of the T20 side – he could be an absolute gem in real cricket so why waste him. Ditto Mitchell Johnson.
June 11th 2009 @ 8:20am
vinay verma said | June 11th 2009 @ 8:20am | Report comment
Jason a lot of cricket lovers would agree with you and definitely there is a possibility that too much 20/20 will grate on many fans. The immediate future of the IPL is assured though for the next three years as contracts with players and broadcasters are set in stone.
The trend with 50 over cricket is worth recollecting. In the 1970′s it started with one game in 1971 and progressed slowly to half a dozen and then an average of 20 to thirty a year always peaking in World Cup years. In 1979 25 ODI’s were played in 1983 played 65 in 1987 played 73. Twenty years later in 2007 a total of 190 ODI’s were played. So far in 2009 64 have been played. So the pattern is to peak in a World Cup year.
If you take the IPL and the World 20/20 and the upcoming Champions Trophy more than 120 games will be played this year. It is debatable if the Administrators can strike a balance. The balance has to be forced on them by the viewing public at the grounds and with their remotes.
June 11th 2009 @ 11:12am
LeftArmSpinner said | June 11th 2009 @ 11:12am | Report comment
Alf Gover, now theres a name. I used to practice in his indoor nets in London!!!! yep, its time for a rethink. Its like Gary Player says, the more I practice, the luckier I get!!!! Australia needs to play more 20/20 if they want to be any good at it. The IPL, while being predominantly entertainment, is also a great development ground for up and coming Indian players to mix and learn from existing proven players and jointly develop the game and the skills it demands.
June 11th 2009 @ 11:58am
vinay verma said | June 11th 2009 @ 11:58am | Report comment
Left Arm Spinner,agreed that up and comers can feed off the proven players. Different mind set more than skill sets. The eye hand coordination is still vital in any form. Good batters and bowlers will find a way in any game. The fielding Captain has to have the mental reflexes of a brain surgeon. One mistake and you’re dead. Of all the captains going around today I think Dhoni is the most adaptable.
Does anyone remember the Barry Knight Indoor school at kent and then Eastern Valley Way?