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It’s been ten years since Australia and New Zealand introduced a revolutionary game of cricket to the international stage. Are they about to do it again?
On February 17, 2005, the very first international game of Twenty20 cricket was played in front of a dubious, yet excited Eden Park crowd as they witnessed something unique.
Since then, Twenty20 cricket has become a billion-dollar industry that is contested in every cricket-playing nation in the world.
And thanks to a certain blonde-haired leg spinner and a little Indian legend, it has even ventured into the home of global media and larger-than-life sporting events, the USA.
Although still a very experimental concept, the day-night Test will be thrust into the spotlight of the international stage on Friday in Adelaide. Australia and New Zealand once again take the leap into uncertainty, all in the name of cricket.
A pink ball being thrown down to a man in white clothes at night time doesn’t sound right when you think of cricket. Many traditionalists of the game have been very quick to point this out, or use any excuse as to why it will only ruin the game and hurt its golden historical tradition.
However, at every point in cricketing history the next revolutionary step in evolving the game has come under fire and forced to go through scrutiny.
The creation of cricket and Tests
Even when the game was first played it faced opposition. A little round ball being thrown underarmed – because that’s how it was played, the Trevor Chappell style – at a guy holding a weird-shaped paddle? That’s not a sport, that won’t work.
Five-day Tests were introduced
Before the five-day limitation there were ‘timeless Tests’ that would simply continue until there was a winner. When the five-day limit was introduced, the cricketing public were bemused about the decision (having read about the topic, I’m not 100 years old).
How will they get results with only five days? There’s not enough time.
World Series Cricket
The Kerry Packer-led revolution not only had the public divided, but the cricketers themselves. After an exhibition one-day match between England and Australia was played in 1971 (due to the first three days of the third Ashes Test being washed out), media mogul Packer saw dollar signs.
In the late 1970s he decided to create his own league of day-night matches and introduced nearly every aspect we see today of the modern game; the coloured outfits, white ball, all-round TV presentation and of course, cricket under floodlights.
Twenty20 cricket
Just 10 years ago the idea of such a shortened format of the game was laughed at. How could such a game be marketable or beneficial to the sport at all? 20 overs isn’t enough time to play out a game of cricket and the fans will be disappointed with how short their experience is.
Well, we all know how that one turned out.
Day-night Test match cricket has, and will continue to go through the ringer by the fans, the experts and the old cricketers. They will remind us of the ‘golden age’ of Test cricket, which varies depending on the person speaking.
It is a massive step for the sport and a big gamble for the five-day format, but it is a gamble that will pay off. It’s in human nature to be excited and thrilled with something new – kids on Christmas morning with new toys is the best example I can think of.
New is fresh and it’s intriguing. Intrigue will only draw fans and the casual sport follower into the game and create a new sense of following.
I cannot wait for the new addition to the game that flows rich in history. This is a momentous occasion in more than 125 years of cricketing history.
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