Twenty20 threat to game's future

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The appetite for Twenty20 is insatiable. I'd certainly lay a large wager that eventually 50-over cricket will be rendered extinct as a result, writes Michael Atherton. More... [h1] Twenty20 threat to game's future [/h1] By Michael Atherton, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 1:18am BST 16/09/2007 Have your say Read comments So far, the first Twenty20 (or twenytweny, as most commentators in South Africa refer to it as) global competition has been everything that the World Cup in the Caribbean was not. With spectators seemingly having riotous fun and the winners to be revealed in just over a week's time, it has looked like an event to be enjoyed, rather than a marathon to be endured. In pics: Day five of the Twenty20 World Cup The appetite for Twenty20 is insatiable. While all eyes have focused on South Africa, there were two developments elsewhere which suggest that eventually Twenty20 cricket could well become the dominant form of the game. I'd certainly lay a large wager that eventually 50-over cricket will be rendered extinct. On Thursday in Delhi it was announced that a global Twenty20 tournament involving domestic teams would take place in October 2008. Meanwhile in England a little-commented-upon press release revealed that there will be a 25 per cent increase in the number of Twenty20 games next year. Whatever happened to the softly, softly approach to make sure that the concept remained fresh? Truly, when the nostrils of administrators twitch with the scent of money, they cannot but bury their snouts in the trough. The Delhi press conference was a hasty, if not necessarily completely thought-through, response to the Indian Cricket League that was highlighted in this column a fortnight ago. It is underpinned by a domestic Indian Twenty20 league, to be played in April 2008, and the aim is to bring together the two best domestic Twenty20 teams from India, Australia, South Africa and England to play for a $5 million (£2.5 million) purse in Abu Dhabi and Dubai six months later. New Zealand will play two teams in Australia's domestic league, while Sri Lanka and Pakistan will send teams to the Indian league. Negotiations are currently ongoing with the West Indies to complete the group. Or should that be coup? For, while Kapil Dev was publicly sanguine about the future of the ICL in the face of this week's developments, he must know that his breakaway group have just been dealt a death blow. Stephen Fleming, recently touted as an ICL target, appeared at the Delhi launch along with other star names such as Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. The tournament was immediately legitimised by the presence of some of the world's leading cricket administrators. It was quite a contrast to the rag, tag and bobtail names paraded by the ICL a fortnight ago and their subsequent cold-shouldering by the establishment. There will be a few players now poring over the small print in their ICL contracts to see if there is any way out. It is certainly difficult to see anyone wanting to throw their hat in with the rebels from here on in. Why would you? As I suggested a fortnight ago, the Indian administrators are a ruthless bunch and they have not been idle to the threat posed by the ICL. Lalit Modi, the man who controls the purse strings of Indian cricket, is a sharp operator and it is he and the chief executive of Cricket Australia, James Sutherland, who have been the prime movers behind this initiative. Up until two weeks ago England were out of the loop, which shows how hasty an arrangement this is. There are obvious snags to be untangled. Some players, for example, represent domestic teams in more than one country. No doubt if Stuart Clark finds himself in the happy position of having the choice between New South Wales or Hampshire he would revert to his state of origin. And it is difficult to see how the ICC can justify their enthusiastic backing given that reducing the volume of cricket is supposedly high on their agenda. More important are the knock-on effects of this tournament, which, no doubt, have not been properly thought through. With a $5 million purse at stake, Twenty20 will suddenly become the most valuable tournament to win from a county player's perspective. Fifty and 40-over cricket have already felt the pinch - they become even less attractive to sponsors now - and this will be exaggerated. County staffs may well be positioned with Twenty20 primarily in mind. Star players may be rested from first-class games in order to be fit and ready for the Twenty20 tournament. Suddenly Twenty20 starts to look like a threat to the primacy of the championship. Will a county be more interested in producing Test players for England, or winning a share of a $5 million pot? It doesn't take much of a clairvoyant to see the potential threat to the traditional forms of the game. As an enthusiastic supporter of Twenty20 from its inception, the success it has generated in such a short time in revitalising domestic cricket has been heartening. But I have always felt that Twenty20 should have remained just that - a vehicle to revive domestic cricket. Fifty-over cricket and obviously Test cricket, remain vital to protecting the very essence of the game, which is a contest between batsmen and bowlers, bat and ball. Twenty20 is the equivalent of the gas chamber for a bowler. If the game's future evolves entirely around Twenty20, why would any young, talented cricketer want to become one? The recently disgraced Shoaib Akhtar might have overstated his case when he slammed the game's administrators for making it into a batsman's game, but he had a point. Now that Twenty20 has spread to the international arena, its effects could be more wide ranging than either I, or, I suspect, its creators would wish. It is hard to see a future for 50-over cricket and if, as I do, you still love the slower rhythm and sub-plots of Test cricket, you might fear for that, too.

[Holysmoke]

I'd certainly lay a large wager that eventually 50-over cricket will be rendered extinct.

:hysterical:

[Predator_05]

What are you laughing at ? The 50 over game is sh*t now, it's doomed. They tried to make it exciting by introducing new gimmicks like the Super-sub, the Powerplays, but it's still as monotous as it was before. Attendances are crap (see World Cup 2007) and the public knows it's a waste of time. Twenty 20 p*sses all over the 50 over game and it will become the primary form of limited overs cricket sometime in the next 5 years.

[coverpoint]

the bummer is that this isnt cricket. There is no contest of bat and ball..... its all about thwacking the ball as hard as u can. crap it is

[Cricketics]

nothing will happen.. take my words.. 50-50, the game we love the most after test cricket won't lose its charm.. it will stay just like that..... its just that ppl bot bada chadakar bolte hai everything.. 2020 will just continue to dominate in some regions and in domestic levels.... 5050 will continue as it is..

[Holysmoke]

50 50 will remain the same. At most with every 50-50 game, they're gonna throw in a couple of 20-20's. and they'll keep on having competition from time to time. Nothing happening in the next 10 years..

[King]

Test cricket will remain the best format in cricket and no way that will end up in the dumps. 50 overs may change a little but Twenty20 is here to stay. In the short cricket format Twenty20 will probably end up the more popular one.