On Thursday December 17, the fifth KFC Big Bash starts. The Frank Worrell Trophy will likely be overshadowed by hype, colour and massive sixes.
Channel Ten, who did a wonderful job last year, will hype the you-know-what out of it and crowds will flock.
For some, KFC sponsoring the Big Bash is appropriate, as Twenty20 is the junk food of cricket; mass marketed to families and youngsters, eagerly devoured, colourful and soon forgotten, with occasional bloating.
The Big Bash has changed domestic scheduling. Rather than the Domestic One-Day tournament and Sheffield Shield being run concurrently, the Matador Cap has been shovelled to October to make room for the Big Bash.
Kevin Pietersen is a huge fan of Twenty20. In his book KP: The Autobiography, he wrote “The IPL has given me the kind of experiences that I hoped for when I left South Africa…I’ve had so much fun that the experiences with England…often seemed to have happened while I was wearing a straitjacket. Even just sharing a hotel with the other foreign players in your squad is an experience.”
For all the controversy and corruption that’s plagued the IPL, you have to admire its straightforwardness. The teams are franchises and players and sold to the highest bidder. While some may mourn the death of loyalty and the pride of playing for your country, IPL – and the other global Twenty20 competitions – reward their players handsomely, both financially and with opportunities to play with some of the world’s best cricketers.
At the 2015 IPL auction, players from Australia (37 entered, 8 sold), England (6 and 3), India (232 and 43), Ireland (1 and 0), New Zealand (13 and 5), South Africa (22 and 5), Sri Lanka (17 and 1), West Indies (13 and 1) and Zimbabwe (2 and 0) participated. Half of India’s players were made up of inexperienced locals (a total of 41 matches between them) and sold at 10 lakhs (or one million rupees) each for two-three months’ work.
When Twenty20 cricket began, some feared for the health of spinners. Surely this batsman-dominated game would see the poor old spinners slogged to all parts?
They’d either revert to military mediums to survive or give up completely. While mediocre spinners can get flogged, the best spinners adapted and used the lack of pace to their advantage. The top two international Twenty20 bowlers are Shahid Afridi (88 wickets at 23.68) and Saeed Ajmal (85 at 17.83) – both spinners. “Mystery spinner” Ajantha Mendis (66 at 14.42) is ranked fifth and former English off-spinner Graeme Swann (51 at 16.84) is ninth.
Rather than killing Test cricket, Twenty20 has influenced the faster scoring rates. In the recently completed WACA Test, Australia and New Zealand combined for 1,672 runs, cashing in on a flat pitch. Australia scored 2/416 on day one (in ninety overs) and New Zealand scored 4/370 in 87 overs on day three. Ross Taylor (290) and David Warner (253) scored double tons while Kane Williamson (166), Steve Smith (138), Usman Khawaja (121) and Adam Voges (119) made centuries. Tests and Twenty20s work well together because they’re so different. Test cricket has tradition and the ebb-and-flow of five days on its side. Twenty20 is fun, colourful, has lots of action (usually) and innovation.
The biggest victim has been one-day cricket. Despite lots of tinkering, the format is criticised for being stale, formulaic and boring. The middle 30 overs of an innings are usually full of risk-free singles and bowling designed to restrict boundaries.
If a team scores 300 batting first and takes a few quick wickets in the first ten overs, the game is over. At least one-sided Twenty20 games are over quickly, while lopsided Tests are usually over in three days. One-day cricket has been cynically exploited as a cash grab, with meaningless tri, quad and bi-lateral series (another seven-game series between Australia and India?) generating little interest outside of the competing teams, their families, friends, advertisers and broadcasters.
Crucially,Twenty20 is brilliant for developing nations. The 2015 Twenty20 World Cup Qualifiers included teams from Asia (Afghanistan, Nepal, UAE, Hong Kong, Oman), Africa (Namibia, Kenya), the Americas (Canada, USA), Europe (Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, Jersey) and East Asia Pacific (Papua New Guinea). Compare that to the 2019 ICC World Cup, which is restricted to the 10 ‘elite’ nations.
Domestic Twenty20 has become an alternative format for freelance cricketers: Australia, Bangladesh, England, Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands, Scotland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe host popular domestic tournaments, creating a new cricket community.
While one-day cricket may slowly die out, Test cricket will survive, especially if the marvelous day-night format is embraced, and be able to co-exist with Twenty20.
Adam Mason
Guest
I am having an each way bet with Big Bash. The format is great for evening TV when summer viewing is usually devoid of entertainment. My kids love going to the games and the time slots and duration are family friendly. The players are available for autographs and kids can get up close to their heroes. 4 game membership is ridiculously cheap compared to test and one day games. The promoters also do a huge job. The embarrassing " where's Darryl" campaign to get people to test cricket shows how little test administrators understand about fans. In contrast the Big Bash sells excitement. On the negative side, the Shield schedule has been bastardised, making it impossible to marry 4 day game form with test selection and Rod Marsh picking bowlers on "gut feeling" . The fickle form of our test side on anything other than a road, and our lack of batting depth highlight the result. I also find the crowd atmosphere at big bash contrived and more about inane noise than what is actually happening on the park. A moronic spruker screaming MAKE SOME NOISE every 5 minutes does my head in. I've seen Lillie bowl in a Shield match at Devonport oval and a couple of hundred kids made plenty of noise spontaneously. A game that relies on dancing girls, fireworks, music and sprukers is almost admitting the product is all sugar and no cake. Back in the 80s one day cricket was massive and basketball was bigger than a yo yo craze. The public appetite for these has dwindled and eventually big bash will fade. If you go to the cricket just to see sixes, eventually your will become bored even if they get 6 an over.
Don Freo
Guest
Why can't I? I could do a good job of naming every Shield player from every state since the 1960s. I could name every grade player in WA since the 60s too. Your point?
Craig Swanson
Guest
Free or not. People do not patronise shield cricket. Mores the pity. They probably would if games were held in suburban grounds around state capitals. In addition, I would like to see a digital channel telecast all shield games. Similar to what 7Sport did a while ago. There is great interest in shield cricket. I could name most of the state players. You can not Don?
Don Freo
Guest
One Day cricket is not in trouble either. In fact, The Matador Cup has been a greater highlight than the Trans Tasman this year. Test, Shield, ODD and ODI are all very healthy. T20 adds theatre and fun. It's all very positive. All I want now is free entry to all Shield games. It can't pay its way with its mid-week scheduling but it is comfortably carried financially by CA. If it was free, some Roarers might become familiar with more players than those the press mention. They might see what selectors see. Cricket literacy. What an outcome!