More to game than Twenty20

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CRICKET'S landscape has changed dramatically, and the traditionalists among us need to adjust their thinking and accept that some of the latest developments are for the better. However, there is a disturbing trend creeping into the psyche of the modern-day player: taking the easy way out to achieve fame and fortune. More... More to game than Twenty20 BRENDAN MCARDLE February 27, 2010 CRICKET'S landscape has changed dramatically, and the traditionalists among us need to adjust their thinking and accept that some of the latest developments are for the better. However, there is a disturbing trend creeping into the psyche of the modern-day player: taking the easy way out to achieve fame and fortune. Some of us were brought up to admire the courage and durability shown by fast bowlers such as Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson and Merv Hughes in forging successful Test careers. They had to overcome injury, they bowled spells late in a day when their team needed them and they were universally respected in the cricketing fraternity. Brett Lee this week gracefully bowed out from the longer forms of the game after serving his country so well. Yet we now have the likes of Shaun Tait and Dirk Nannes doing none of the above and still being placed on a lofty pedestal by many fans and some sections of the media because of their ability to play so well in Twenty20 cricket. Four overs of thunderbolts, sometimes in one- or two-over spells, and a day's work is done. It's enough to make the weary bones of any former fast bowler creak with envy. There is no doubt that Tait's spectacular pace has been one of the highlights of a fairly mundane season, and that the addition of he and Nannes to the Australian Twenty20 team, along with the brutal power of David Warner, has transformed Australia into a formidable outfit and captured the public's imagination in the game's most vibrant format. But let's not forget, as the eulogising about Tait continues unabated, that this is the same bloke who left Test cricket a beaten man. The same player who floundered at fine leg at the Oval in 2005 as Kevin Pietersen took on Lee's bouncers, the same bowler who limped away from the Perth Test against India a couple of years ago after being unable to live up to the pre-match hype about his pace. Of course he's quick and of course he's exciting, but we need some perspective in all this. He declared his unwillingness to play four-day cricket as far back as the beginning of last season, and he's been true to his word ever since. He has hardly played it. Australia has been fortunate that the likes of Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Doug Bollinger have performed so admirably over the past 12 months, but in reality none can hold a candle to Tait in terms of raw pace and ability, and that's an indictment on the big South Australian. Quite simply, he should have been a successful Test cricketer. Nannes' story is a remarkable one to say the least. Plucked from local suburban cricket in his early 20s, Nannes made an immediate impact at premier cricket level and it wasn't long before he became an irresistible target for the Victorian selectors. His pace and unpredictable action became a constant threat to whoever he came up against in state ranks, and it became increasingly obvious he was one of the very best new-ball bowlers in the country in all forms of the game. But his appearances for Victoria over the past two years have become fewer and fewer. Other than one four-day and one 50-over match, Nannes' appearances for state and country this season have been exclusively in Twenty20 cricket. Both Nannes and Tait are right - they are both best-suited to 20-over cricket, and their bodies have protested at the workload required in the longer forms - but one can't escape the feeling neither man has paid his dues to the game, and that the Indian Premier League has given them an out they haven't fully earned. Sachin Tendulkar this week achieved one of cricket's greatest milestones with his double century in a 50-over game, yet it is debatable whether that got as much recognition in some local quarters as Warner's 18-ball half-century against the West Indies in Sydney the previous day. Warner, Tait and Nannes give Australia every chance of success in the World Twenty20 Cup in the West Indies in May. But acknowledgement of their exciting performances should be tempered by the knowledge that none has been truly successful in the most demanding form of the game.

[thevortex]

Excellent article! Finally some balance to all the hoopla. However I wonder how this is going to be received given that the IPL is just around the corner.

[fineleg]

Brilliant writeup. Puts into clear perspective difference between Cricket and Hit-n-Giggle. It would give some of us atleast immense satisfaction if Lalitha-ji's Surf err IPL miraculously crashed & burned into oblivion. Intl T20 can be around, but the March/Apr circus can safely cease without harm to real cricket.

[Desi Cartman]

^ lol enjoy .. have fun .. treat it like a movie :aha:

[Block hole]

Can't buy me sense-Tony Cozier It is founded on the premise that it is not really cricket at all and, more especially, that the mega-bucks paid out by Indian tycoons, Bollywood stars and a bogus American financier have given young West Indies players a false sense of their worth. It is not that Michael Holding begrudges the fees cricketers now earn. He joined Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket back in 1977 precisely because it offered him and others a proper wage as professional sportsmen. His concern is that most of those with bank accounts boosted into seven figures by Twenty20 now measure success more by the numbers on the cheques they collect for appearing in the IPL, Australia's Big Bash, Stanford's Super Series and England's equivalent than on those alongside their batting and bowling averages. His theory was given ample airing in West Indies' performance in two matches during the past week. Teams packed with millionaires, the wealthiest ever to represent the burgundy and silver, were acutely embarrassed by the supposed non-entities of Zimbabwe, first in the Twenty20 international at the Queen's Park Oval, then in the first one-day international at the Providence Stadium. The reality is that most of the highly touted, and paid West Indians have international records, and experience, no better than their counterpart paupers of Zimbabwe, not one of whom is distracted by the fame and fortune of an overseas Twenty20 contract. Of the 11 West Indians on the field in the second ODI yesterday, only Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul had more than 50 ODIs on their CVs. Only three of the Zimbabweans had fewer. Kieron Pollard, whose earnings from Trinidad and Tobago, the South Australian Redbacks, the Mumbai Indians, the Somerset Sabres and West Indies, will bring in around US$1.5 million this year, averages in the teens in his 21 ODIs and 13 Twenty20 internationals. He is yet to play a Test or score an international hundred, whereas eight Zimbabweans have. Kemar Roach is less than a year into his international career and already has a US$700,000 IPL deal. Based on his reputation as big hitter, stiff medium-pace bowler and dazzling fielder, Dwayne Smith has been a Twenty20 specialist for Sussex, New South Wales, the Mumbai Indians and the Deccan Chargers. But his inconsistency has limited him to spasmodic appearances for West Indies in recent times. Andre Fletcher, who pocketed US$1 million from the Stanford Super Series win over England in 2008, has fewer ODIs and Twenty20s to his name than half the Zimbabweans. There were prime examples in Thursday's ODI loss that, while Twenty20 riches can buy diamond earrings, gold chains, designer watches and lifelong financial security, they can't guarantee basic cricketing sense. After that match, captain Gayle furiously identified the main offenders in the loss as Pollard, Smith and Denesh Ramdin. He might have also mentioned the ludicrous run-outs of Fletcher and Narsingh Deonarine and the fumbles in the field, but there was enough on his mind as it was. "Those guys were key for us and the way they went about it was a terrible display," Gayle said of Pollard, Ramdin and Smith. "It is very disappointing and sad to see how they went about it." Pollard, whose expensive status is based mainly on his power-hitting, casually stroked a catch to mid-on during the batting Powerplay when only three fielders are permitted outside the 30-yard zone. Ramdin was bowled for the seventh time in his last 12 innings for West Indies. Smith was the most culpable. When Nikita Miller's six, four, and one off the first three balls of the final over left four to win off three, a usually straightforward task, he premeditated his well-known default shot - the across-the-line slog - and the match was effectively lost. It could be his last swing for West Indies. Ramdin, who had played every match for West Indies since December 2008, and Smith both paid for their indiscretions with their places in yesterday's second ODI. Gayle's censure was as strong as any captain gets. The language in the stands was far more direct and abusive. It was West Indies' 11th defeat in 12 ODIs, a stunning statistic. If it continues, the slide will carry on even further down the ICC rankings. The return of Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo, presumably for the last three ODIs, will bolster the strength but the truth is the cupboard of reputable reserves is all but bare. The regional first-class tournament that ended last weekend was an exercise in futility. At the end of it, there was not a single new player the selectors could identify as ready for international cricket. It is easier at present to be optimistic over an end of the drought than a turnaround of West Indies' cricket woes. Yet board president Julian Hunte and chief executive Ernest Hilaire were upbeat back in January. "The season promises to be an exciting one and we are really looking forward to some tough, hard and competitive cricket on the field and positive support and enjoyment by the fans off the field," Hunte said. It turned out to be a dud. It was poorly promoted, if at all, a host of top players were missing, either injured or away in Australia, the standard was as low as usual (against 11 totals over 300 there were 22 under 200) and crowds at most matches were in three, sometimes even two, figures. Ten of the 14 batsmen with more than 300 runs were the usual suspects who had already represented West Indies and all but two of the 13 bowlers with more than 20 wickets were run-of-the-mill spinners. One apparent success was the bold experiment of floodlit matches with the pink ball. All reports are not in but the general response from players and spectators was positive. When Tests are also inevitably played at night, West Indies can claim to have led the way. In contrast, the other innovation - to stage a round a time in the same venue - was a predictable flop. It limited Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the Leewards and Windwards to one home match each, Barbados and the so-called Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) to two. The arrangement was seen at its most ridiculous when Barbados and the CCC were despatched from their home base in Barbados to far-off Nevis for their match. And while Hilaire declared before it all started that the WICB would be "looking to utilise some of the wonderful facilities we have in the region", only seven of the 21 matches were staged at the "wonderful facilities" that were the supposed legacy of the World Cup. You really have to wonder who sits in the WICB office in St John's and makes such decisions

[abhinav]

A sad, really sad indictment of the state of game in the Caribbean. Just when they seem to show some spark and promise like they did in the test series with Australia, comes a prolonged period of embarrassing performances. It really is a shame that non proven performers like Pollard and Roach are lavished such crazy sums of money; really does a bad precedent for young cricketers.

[Serani]

The WICB are really the worst board maybe only the PCB are worse. the domestic season lasts 7 weeks and the cricketers sit around for the rest of the year doing nothing, not sure how players are supposed to improve at all. Maybe they should try like the old days and get youngsters into English counties where they will receive a better cricket education.