How Shorter formats helped the sport

[Executioner]

T20 is said to destroy a players genuine cricketing skills. But lets be honest, the shorter format has given a new life to the game. Cricket felt like a boring sport to me not too long ago, the players looked dull, there wasnt much excitement. However, T20s have injected a new life into this game. 1) Fielding: Fielding standards have improved to a new level. We see dives, brilliant throws, airborne catches, more direct hits at the stump. All these are exciting to see. With increasing priority of T20s, all these are quite mandatory now. In today's match poor Narine didnt even dive or have a proper throw at a stomps, as opposed to his teammates who where throwing themselves everywhere to save runs...and he was criticized for it. In the old days narine would get away quite easily 2) Power hitting: Batsman nowadays have mastered the art of slogging. Any ball this misses its length can easily be dispatched out of the ground for six. And general public enjoy it when sixes are hit :dance: 3) Playing orthodox cricket shots: Can anyone recall SRT playing the upper cut in his early days? I dont think so. In recent time batsman have been playing shots that are out of the cricket manual, switch hits, reverse sweep and the most popular paddle scoop. Batsman nowadays possess the ability to play shots around the ground, be it behind the keeper or behind the bowler. 4) Yorker and slower balls: T20s have forced bowlers to master the art of slower balls and yorkers. So while we are all whining about how real cricket is suffering due T20, we should also think about the Pros of the new format. All the 4 points i mentioned have added a different flavour to the sport. These things have made the sport more entertaining to the new generation. Whats y'all's view on it?

[lameduck]

First of all a very good analysis Agree. Player who is good test cricketer is mostly a good t20 cricketer. i see good test players with stroke making ability succeed in all three formats. eg: KP, Mahela, AB, Gayle. also you can be a blind slogger and still do a good job with it. i still think respect for players playing test cricket is much higher than of limited overs format. but the players who are good at the limited version have better earning potentials and get all the publicity. but then again we can't define a good cricketer solely on technique and defensive skills. i see with time the players are going to judged on a format basis. eg:Warner is good t20 player, Cook is a good test player. All in all. my point is value/prestigiousness of a cricketer will be the at its peak if the player is a good test player. but if the player succeeds in all three formats. then it will add on a bit of styling or beastliness to that value.

[maverick451]

T20 helps T20 skills and ODI skills but definately has a negative effect on test cricketing skills, you often see players who have been playing alot of t20 recently lack the patience to build an innings, they want to get bat on every bowl and knick off easilly.

[Tridibans_16]

T20 is said to destroy a players genuine cricketing skills. But lets be honest, the shorter format has given a new life to the game. Cricket felt like a boring sport to me not too long ago, the players looked dull, there wasnt much excitement. However, T20s have injected a new life into this game. 1) Fielding: Fielding standards have improved to a new level. We see dives, brilliant throws, airborne catches, more direct hits at the stump. All these are exciting to see. With increasing priority of T20s, all these are quite mandatory now. In today's match poor Narine didnt even dive or have a proper throw at a stomps, as opposed to his teammates who where throwing themselves everywhere to save runs...and he was criticized for it. In the old days narine would get away quite easily 2) Power hitting: Batsman nowadays have mastered the art of slogging. Any ball this misses its length can easily be dispatched out of the ground for six. And general public enjoy it when sixes are hit 3) Playing orthodox cricket shots: Can anyone recall SRT playing the upper cut in his early days? I dont think so. In recent time batsman have been playing shots that are out of the cricket manual, switch hits, reverse sweep and the most popular paddle scoop. Batsman nowadays possess the ability to play shots around the ground, be it behind the keeper or behind the bowler. 4) Yorker and slower balls: T20s have forced bowlers to master the art of slower balls and yorkers. So while we are all whining about how real cricket is suffering due T20, we should also think about the Pros of the new format. All the 4 points i mentioned have added a different flavour to the sport. These things have made the sport more entertaining to the new generation. Whats y'all's view on it?

Good post. On point 4, the batsmen have also improved in devising ways to score off them. Nowadays, often yorkers are fine swept before it pitches. The most important part, I feel is that Cricket slowly is now becoming a global level sport (Not comparing whatsoever with Soccer or Tennis). Some of my US buddies know about it (thanks to CNN's articles about IPL every now and then) and this could really help spread the game in the coming decades.

[Tiger-Don]

Good post. On point 4, the batsmen have also improved in devising ways to score off them. Nowadays, often yorkers are fine swept before it pitches. The most important part, I feel is that Cricket slowly is now becoming a global level sport (Not comparing whatsoever with Soccer or Tennis). Some of my US buddies know about it (thanks to CNN's articles about IPL every now and then) and this could really help spread the game in the coming decades.

A indian boy in my school, who grew up around me, really didnt care about cricket when he moved to the US...he was all about getting his studies done....Now, he's like a full cricket expert!!! idk, if its cuz of T20Is or because he hangs around a cricket lover like me! Yah some kids in my school didnt even know about cricket, but most of them have bats now!!!!:omg::omg::omg: I'm sure most of you know this already. But I know many who don't. Just so everyone is aware of it, they aren't just broadcasting this tourney. ESPN is in a deal with ICC through WC15. So they'll broadcast every ICC events till then (if nothing goes wrong). So the best thing for us would be to watch, re-watch, comment, like, share, tweet, w/e the **** else we can do to let them know that they've got enough views. So they extend their deal. Cricket scores has been on the ESPN scroller and on the main page, it made it through to top 10 plays 4-5 times last week. That's little but BIG. And I read they will show the final on ESPN2! Now it's up to us, the cricket fans to use this chance and push forward from here on. It does sound a bit lame, and why should we have to do all that just because ESPN finally realized about cricket and it's popularity, but we should for our own good... Isn't it true that cricket has the 2nd highest viewers in the US after America, even through it doesn't even broadcast any games?

[saket123]

But you see there is a difference between T20 and IPL. While T20 may have it's benefits.. the same cannot be said about IPL.

[Tridibans_16]

Isn't it true that cricket has the 2nd highest viewers in the US after America, even through it doesn't even broadcast any games?

:hmmm:

[Tiger-Don]

Yo so check dis out.......I just checked ESPN3 schedule for the 2nd week of October. ESPN3 will also cover the Champions League. Which means i dont gotta watch it on *****y links!!. ESPN3 is defonitely interested in going after more cricket tournaments. I think next they will probably aim for IPL, but that might be hard to get since youtube already has some kind of deal going on with BCCI. I really hope the winner of next season of BPL will participate in next year's champions league, so we bengalis can enjoy it too. I wonder if Youtube's interest in broadcasting IPL and SLPL live had anything to do with ESPN showing so much interest in broadcasting cricket.

[prasadiyer]

Great points made by the OP. But, even as increasing competence is required in all aspects of cricket, the very nature of the game also forgives all kinds of idiotic, talentless performances. Case in point: a lot of the IPL action. We see so many dropped sitters, fast bowling that barely qualifies to be called that, ugly agricultural shots, and so on. Imagine, if we had to put up with this trash for 100 overs or in 4-day or 5-day affairs! It would be quite unbearable to watch.

[Tiger-Don]

:hmmm:

Subcontinent replaces america...

[mr cricket]

T20 is the best way to expand cricket to other countries that don't play the sport.

[Old guy]

sachin played upper cut before t20 but yes good points its funny how in this pajama format best playes are classy guys who are good at any level speciallly test

[vamos_rafa]

I know many of you have watched the matches on CI on Watch ESPN. It's a tool, which many soccernet users would be aware, which was used to stream live matches on the site. That is what is being done by CI for all the US IPs. That is a huge step from ESPN, because strategically, though ESPN got the pretty high revenues from CI, but it never looked to expand it beyond Indian SC and to an extent England.

[vamos_rafa]

@OP, I think you have made a good assessment of the impact. Though I would not agree upon the drabness of test cricket but I respect your opinion. One area where I feel cricket has gained is fielding. Earlier, there were not too many fielders out there whom you would literally call cheetahs, but now there are so many. The fact that even India has it makes it all the more special!! Regarding the kind of shots, the first time Sacihn played the upper cut was in a test match in SA on a fast bouncy pitch. So, that has nothing to do with the shorter formats. Infact I read somewhere that sunil Gavaskar also used to play that shot. There have always been extravagant shots like hook shot, it's just an evolution of the game.One shot though can be attributed to shorter formats and that's the scoop shot. I think Doug Marillier cam up with this shot. Even reverse sweep and switch hit are by products of this. Also, running between the wickets have vastly improved because of this. Bowling, I think slower ones should be also a direct result of the shorter formats. I think yorkers and block holes were there before as well. But, one thing is, a good test match player can be a good LOI cricketer, but is the reverse always true? That should suggest you what real cricket is.

[Executioner]

A indian boy in my school, who grew up around me, really didnt care about cricket when he moved to the US...he was all about getting his studies done....Now, he's like a full cricket expert!!! idk, if its cuz of T20Is or because he hangs around a cricket lover like me! Yah some kids in my school didnt even know about cricket, but most of them have bats now!!!!:omg::omg::omg: I'm sure most of you know this already. But I know many who don't. Just so everyone is aware of it, they aren't just broadcasting this tourney. ESPN is in a deal with ICC through WC15. So they'll broadcast every ICC events till then (if nothing goes wrong). So the best thing for us would be to watch, re-watch, comment, like, share, tweet, w/e the **** else we can do to let them know that they've got enough views. So they extend their deal. Cricket scores has been on the ESPN scroller and on the main page, it made it through to top 10 plays 4-5 times last week. That's little but BIG. And I read they will show the final on ESPN2! Now it's up to us, the cricket fans to use this chance and push forward from here on. It does sound a bit lame, and why should we have to do all that just because ESPN finally realized about cricket and it's popularity, but we should for our own good... Isn't it true that cricket has the 2nd highest viewers in the US after America, even through it doesn't even broadcast any games?

Im with tiger-don on this. Live coverage on TV is the best and perhaps only way to spread the game. Like Tiger-DOn said, its better than having to watch crap links. And back to topic, the fieldng is something which has benefitted due to increased number of T20S

[Executioner]

But you see there is a difference between T20 and IPL. While T20 may have it's benefits.. the same cannot be said about IPL.

We all know very well that IPL is an arena where players who are already talented can show-off their performance. It is not a place for youngsters to learn a lot. People may say, rahane kohli mandeep are product of IPL but that is a total myth. These guys have emerged as future stars thanks to playing a lot youth cricket and also first class matches. IPL is about glamour and certainly, a new cricketer improving himself is no glamour if you compare to Dhoni mauling the bowlers. For the foreigners, IPL is a good source of income but who get to play? Ones who are already renowned T20 stars. Watson, hodge, gayle, mccullum all have performed in the intl and/or domestic setup. Now, the 4 foreigner rules mean that among the 10 only 4 can play so this rules out the fact that young foreign players will get chance ahead of experience ones. Steven smith in IPL 5 was an exception, though credit goes the pawned warriors for having such a poor squad. IPL however, is an eye-candy and one cannot simply ignore the fact that its one of the more entertaining tournaments in the world right now with Fullhouses, exciting cricket, cheerleaders, music, money and top cricketers around the globe playing with each other

[someone]

We all know very well that IPL is an arena where players who are already talented can show-off their performance. It is not a place for youngsters to learn a lot.

Incorrect. In a platform of world-class international players + competitive cricket, you learn a lot about pressure and practicing with world-class players. Add to that, many intangible factors such as working in a team, communication skills. You may dislike IPL because it does not support your own agenda. But that does not mean you can talk nonsense about IPL.

[Executioner]

Incorrect. In a platform of world-class international players + competitive cricket, you learn a lot about pressure and practicing with world-class players. Add to that, many intangible factors such as working in a team, communication skills. You may dislike IPL because it does not support your own agenda. But that does not mean you can talk nonsense about IPL.

fyi im a fan of IPL But my opinion is that IPL doesnt really help the development of players, its more like IPL is a showdown for big names

[Executioner]

also, these PLs mean that even local players can gain popularity. 10 years ago if you werent in the intl scene you where an alien to the cricket world. Now many people know about the likes of hodge and rahane. with more money and fame for domestic players, the interest to at least get into the domestic setup will by greater thats 1 plus point