T20 Tizzy
The good news about Twenty20 is that the Aussies are still rubbish at it. Didn't they start the last Ashes tour by getting trounced in the form of cricket so short that even goldfish can get the full picture? Oh dear. And they say hindsight is Twenty20.
I can't deny that since they got dumped out like a garbage bag plonked on a pavement, I've been enjoying the tournament a heck of a lot more.
England are about as easy to predict as my wife's reaction when I come through the front door. One minute the bowlers are fierce and competitive and the batters are committed and brave. The next minute they're trembling like a field of daisies in a summer shower.
The atmosphere for the India game was terrific, mind. Maybe it's not proper cricket, T20, but I'm warming to the whole concept a lot more. It's thrown up a whole new array of things to delight and bewilder and there's every chance that cricket will be awash with all sorts of new phrases by the end of this competition.
You've got Dilshan's front-foot over-the-head flip - I'd call it the 'Tilly-tonk' meself.
You've already got the KP switch-hit but Harbajhan's masterful response of somehow not releasing the ball should have its own moniker - you know when you've been Velcro-ed?
Malinga's round-arm yorkers are a total one-off an' all and he's already been dubbed the Slinga. There are plenty of highlights to his play, but it's the ones in his barnet that are letting him down.
Malinga bowls like he's knocking a toff's top hat off, or clearing the crockery off a shoulder high table. In fact, what with Murali and Sangakarra and Mendis, I reckon the Sri Lankans are my favourite team in the tournament.
One of the things that no-one's really got a handle on is the tactics for Twenty20. The pundits seem to know even less than the team out there. Clearly the batters have a straightforward task. Get out there and batter it! It's the bowlers who have had to find the craft and guile to counter being thrashed to all parts.
I worried with T20 that the bowlers' roles would be reduced to mere cannon fodder while the batsmen stood in the middle admiring the latest white cherry as it flew up into the next galaxy. Truth is that bowlers have found new reservoirs of guile.
A bowler's pace has varied from express to stopping-at-all-the-stations. Shahid Afridi bowled a 78mph twirler in one game, Harbajhan flighted a last-over delivery at an elegant 46mph when you'd have expected it to be fired in. Umar Gul has spent the tournament trying to remove the toe-nails of the opposition.
In response, batsmen have become more inventive than ever. King Viv and Barry Richards were pretty nimble on their feet but every player nowadays seems to leap about the crease like Derek Randall on uppers.
The spinners, far from being obliterated into history, have become even more vital. Wickies are stumping for fun - and thank goodness Foster is there instead of Prior - and there is a massive variety of stuff going into each ball.
It is cricket for the goldfish-memory generation, of course, but it's pretty enjoyable for all that. It's all over so quickly it sort of defies too much analysis - not that that's stopped me, eh?
I am reminded of the post-match interviews of the quick chats given to the press by 100m sprinters just after they've finished running. 'Usain, take us through the race!'
'Well, as you can see, I start as quickly as I can then I like run really fast and ooh, I've finished first.'
Still, it was dead encouraging how Ponting was mystified by the Aussie defeat. You're the flaming captain, mate. You work it out!
Ponting's not my cup of tea, really. There's a touch of the George W Bush about the bloke - a lot of cocksure strutting about but a sense that he's not entirely sure what's going on - though it must be added that if Punter's batting was on a par with Dubya's presidency he'd be turning out for the Blue Bell this Sunday - as the drinks carrier.
I'm still of the opinion that it's not proper cricket, that a whole day of slow-paced grind with the ball nipping off the surface and the batsmen chipping away for a foothold is more what it's about.
In other words, cricket should be dull, impenetrable and only for the purists - or so Tony Thompson said in the Bell last night. He insists it's still cricket, just speeded up. He bought a tequila slammer to prove his point. 'All right' he said 'I have to neck this in one, whereas you can savour your real ale... but it's still booze!'
And with that he downed it, wobbled slightly, and had to have a sit-down. But then that's what T20 is. It's breathless, bonkers and downright scruffy sometimes.
Occasionally it's very one-sided - usually when South Africa are muscling teams out the way in an efficient Mourinho's-Chelsea kind of way - but mostly it's as end-to-end as that Champs League quarter-final 4-4 draw between Chelsea and Liverpool - and if a sport can make you (not to mention the potentially fuddy-duddies of Lord's) as giddy and grateful as that match did, then let's have more of it.
If England can get a grip on the Aussies for the rest of the summer then the T20 will just be a dimly-remembered fireworks display. And I can't wait for the Ashes to begin, even if not buying into the Sky monopoly means I'll HAVE to catch as much of it as I can in the pub.
But for now I'll enjoy the crash, bang, wallop for another week. I couldn't be happier if I was the manager of St John's Wood's only retail outlet for toughened glass windows.
I'm Derek Robson. People call me Robbo. Legend has it I was raised in the furnace and smog of Teesside. Some might say I took the hard road. I like to tell folk I had trials for Middlesbrough, for Hartlepool and for burglary (not guilty). I've always loved sport. My job is to say it as I see it - whether it's in the bar of the Blue Bell or on this blog. You won't find me calling a spade a soil-redistribution implement.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~14~RS~)
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Great article Robbo -- Ain't reddit, but wanted to be first. Now to read it.
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I'm a Pom and I've got an Australian daughter. I've been as kind and understanding to her as she was to me over our loss to the Nederlands power house.
And, Robbo, aren't you lucky to have more than one pay tv provider to complain about. Over here, down under, we've only got the one. They son't do too bad a job.
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Got to say I'm addicted to it! Just wish it was on terrestial tv so most of my mates could watch the games (though most have started watching the highlights on BBC). It may be just me but with football in the 1980's you would turn up to a match and not know who would win. Now a lot of Premier League football matches you turn up and know who will win and it's not fun to watch. The unpredictable nature of sport has been lost with the business need to market champions who win all the time. T20 has the ability to be more unpredictable: who would have thought Netherlands would beat England, or Aussies and India not making the semis. Would love Sri Lanka to win it after the Mumbai attacks would be a brilliant story to come back from near death to win the World Cup.
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Summed up my feelings well Robbo. Twenty20 is something I've started to like depsite myself.
I suspect we are probably like the people who moaned when the first cars were rolled out. "OOh" they said, "it'll never catch on, I prefer my transport to go very slowly and uncomfortably, occasionally dumping a large lump of excrement by my foot, and bolting at the sight of a small dog" That's the proper way to travel.
Blocking for twenty overs and the taking the light for a draw on the 5th day is what Cricket is all about. Still, Chris Gayle smashing a six into the pavilion is nice to watch once in a while eh?
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Great to dump India out infront of their home crowd. I hope we can do the same to Pakistan later in the tournament!
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I think it is a welcome addition to the existing forms of cricket. The crash, bang, wallop and the unpredictability of it make for a fun few weeks, although I'm not sure how much longer I could watch it for. It is an entertaining diversion though, and it might give batsmen a bit more confidence to go for a few more shots in the longer forms of the game.
As for tactics, I think if you win the toss you should almost always bowl first. The advantage of having a target to aim for should outweigh any potential change in conditions in a 20 over, one and a half hour spell.
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Im a fan of both football and cricket, my first memories of both games were in 1992 when i was 5 yrs old..(Pakistan won the world cup..the premier league started with a bang). Limited over international cricket is like a 90 min game of football, you have to be in the stands to experience the atmosphere..the banter between the opposition fans (you dont get seperated here into different ends!) and the players...anyone who dismisses 20/20 cricket shouldnt be allowed to step foot in a sporting discussion. I`ve been to 2 matches during this Twenty20 world cup..the england v pakistan/south africa v scotland days & pakistan v new zealand/south africa v west indies...and i have never had so much fun in my life...
on another note...CHEERIO CHEERIO INDIA & AUSTRALIA GONE FOR WALKIES!
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Since 'Boro are now going to apply their trades in the championship,looks like Robbo has begun to focus on Cricket.....anyways way good one robbo, ur blogs are always enjoyable...
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good article again Robbo
My point is simple, any form of the game that gets kids out playing is a good thing. I would love to be able to spend all 5 days of a test watching every ball but the fact is we don't have time, so T20 allows us to watch a game from start to finish with no flaming tea break.... Brilliant. I wonder if we would be talking about it if we had failed to beat Pakistan and no longer had an interest in the tournament??? I don't think so but hey as long as we are winning and still in the competition it is a great form of cricket when we get knocked out it can return to being rounders for men and we can focus on the ashes, either way anything to help fill the void of no Premiere League football, oooh sorry Robbo, I mean fill the void of league football!!!!!!
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Twenty20 cricket? That's not cricket. That's Mozart's greatest hits, that is.
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Robbo, was hoping you would have something to say on the 20's... and you've hit this blog for 6... even Gayle would be proud mush!
I have always loved the 20/20 form, since watching the early county matches... You just have to switch off all the cricket parts of your brain! Anyone CAN beat anyone, the Irish gave an inspired performance yesterday... and as mentioned the dutch beat US! Anything that levels the game so well, is over in a couple of hours and has more action than your average Steven Segal boxset is a good thing in my eyes... and it is filling the seemingly infanite void in my life that the close season has left quite niceley...
But to be honest like most men, any other sport has its purpose with out footy of a weekend. I was well in to Murray's final yesterday... well done for winning... your British again! (though as soon as your knocked out of wimbledon, you will soon be back to being scottish!)
Looking forward to the rest of tournament and Bring on the Ashes...
Oh, but Pro40 is a useless form of the game... just useless..
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I watched the England v India match last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm not a big cricket fan in fairness but loved every second of it. The fast pace of the game and the fact that you cannot play conseratively is what gives T20 it's appeal.
Malinga bowls like he is trying to skim a pebble over a lake and hit a swan nevermind the stumps! Mad hair do as well, it certainly overshadows your comb-over, Robbo :P
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I'm a purist and love nothing more than 'a good leave outside off-stump' but the bitesize version of the game is fantastic. It gets big crowds through the turnstiles, people can go after work, and it will get more and more youngsters in to the game.
If Dilshan can invent the one-knee reverse leave outside off stump then i'll be a happy man.
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#9 Good point re whether we get knocked out or not. The good thing at the mo is if we're still in it we can have a good old rave about how brilliant the game is, and if we get knocked out we can point out that it's not real cricket any road.
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T20 is SUPERB - exciting to watch and reaches to a wider audience.
Its going to have a big future, but it wont be at the expense of other formats - they can all co-exist.
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I don't get the general feeling that "....it's all over so quickly....." A game is still twice as long as most football matches and jam packed full of action too! This World Cup has been a revelation!
I enjoy the test match format (and there's nothing quite like an all day drinking session occasionally interrupted by the odd appeal), but the problem for me is that most of the games are absolutely meaningless. Perhaps someone will come up with some league format to liven up the test arena somewhat, but until then T20 fills the void marvellously. It's breathless and exciting, it's incredibly fun to watch, and it's the future.
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is this a permanent cricket column now 'Boro have been relegated Robbo? Get on the tennis in a few weeks, hopefully it'll be a good 'un this year, especially with that new roof! Hopefully we'll get to see a match from start to finish this year! Altho knowing Wimbledon the roof will probably have a leak somewhere
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I'm liking it more and more. I was skeptical, like alot of people, that it would just be a load of big hitting, with none of the depth of the longer formats. But its really competitive, and requires a focus on certain cricket skills.
Bowlers cannot afford any loose balls and need quick thinking. Batters need good wrists, power and a variety of shots. And fielding is very, very crucial - Twenty20 will surely lead to a greater focus on it.
Please, please somebody bring it on to terrestrial!
I wonder the future of 50 over games. Twenty20 brings the excitement and close finishes that one day matches so often fail to produce.
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#17
Well I'll probably just blather on about whatever's happening, sports-wise. I'm sure footy will be hitting the back - and front - pages most weeks anyway.
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HEADLINE: ROBBO SCORES A LATE WINNER
I was wondering how Robbo the Bloggo was going to fit his weekly mention of Chelsea into his Cricket Twenty20 comments, it looked impossible but with blog time running out this is how he did it..........
''Occasionally it's very one-sided - usually when South Africa are muscling teams out the way in an efficient Mourinho's-Chelsea kind of way - but mostly it's as end-to-end as that Champs League quarter-final 4-4 draw between Chelsea and Liverpool - and if a sport can make you (not to mention the potentially fuddy-duddies of Lord's) as giddy and grateful as that match did, then let's have more of it''.........
Excellent, the next challenge is a Chelsea comment during Wimbledon!
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Robbo you are a funny man! And it sounds like your wife is like many others in that she is keeping you on your toes! Good on you Mrs Robbo!
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"Ponting's not my cup of tea, really. There's a touch of the George W Bush about the bloke - a lot of cocksure strutting about but a sense that he's not entirely sure what's going on"
damn funny robbo... Going by your logic mate.. i would say Clarke is more of Dick Cheney than Ponting is Bush.. happy that ozs got some royal spanking.. bring on the ashes...
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5 wicket defeat to the West Indies. Not even Mozart's greatest hits. More Waldo de los Rios and "Mozart Twenty20".
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Excellent blog Robbo !
I prefer T20 over the 50 over game mind. A few T20 'parties' after a test series would be far better than trudging through days of 50 over games.
It's also nice to see another game invented in England that we are already not very good at - call me sentimental, but it's a tradition.
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Do you know, dunno why, but I've gone off that T20 nonsense, haven't you?
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Robbo.. i bet you were itching to post that comment.. weren't ya.. one thing is proved though.. you are paying for SKY at your home and not in the bar anymore...
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Like you said earlier Robbo, it's not real cricket anyway. Bring on the ashes!
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The missus, trembling like a field of daisies in a summer shower?
Forget footie and T20, how the hell do you achieve that?
Enlighten me O wise one.
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Robbo,
I think you're in the closet and you really hate the fact that the English has lost. In addition, you made a few comments about this fashion of the game; I think it's typical English mentality (anything we are not good at it is rubbish)
We have to come to terms with T20. The idea is the young people love it and that's what brougt the money to cricket.
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"I think it's typical English mentality (anything we are not good at it is rubbish)"
Like football, you mean?
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Personally, i have never liked this watered down version of the game... Hated it since the early County matches if i rememebr correctly... complete waste of time, and by no means PROPER CRICKET!
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excellent blog robbo.
love every minute of this world cup, even waiting for the highlights now before this afternoon play begins!
can only bear to watch footie on motd these days, too many boring spells
this is "proper" cricket at its best!
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29. At 03:44am on 16 Jun 2009, supaopinioner wrote:
Robbo,
I think you're in the closet and you really hate the fact that the English has lost. In addition, you made a few comments about this fashion of the game; I think it's typical English mentality (anything we are not good at it is rubbish)
We have to come to terms with T20. The idea is the young people love it and that's what brougt the money to cricket.
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There must be a smiley for tongue in cheek. ANy road, the Windies defeat can hardly be judged as proper even in T20 terms. It's pretty unlucky as 160 would've been harder to get than 80 from 9 overs. Still. Up Sri Lanka!
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Lovely blog Robbo, I can see you sitting in the garden at the Bluebell, sipping on a Pimms full of fruit and umbrellas, as you ponder a summer of cricket and tennis.
Any road up, this method of calculating the results of weather shortened games will never be acceptable. Let's have a new rule. 5 innings each team, 4 overs per innings. Start with your top batsmen and if one is out, they both are out. Lose 5 wickets in your 4 over innings and you lose the balance of those overs. That should make for a bit of excitement and we'll always have an ongoing and comparable scoreboard. Radical yes, but so were the Beatles' haircuts.
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#34 TrotterUSA: Are you for real?
I am just going on a whim here that you are from the other side of the pond. Just an assumption, nothing more.
Have you ever watched a cricket match, let alone one rain affected? I guess there is a game, played across the Atlantic, similar to what you suggest. I wonder why it hadn't caught on back here
p.s. A garden at the Bluebell? Whats that all about? Have you EVER been to an English pub? In case you live in US of A and are younger than 21, have you been to ANY pub?
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#35
Your dopey assumption is incorrect.
I'm a born and bred Lancastrian, they moved the border and put us in Merseyside. I grew up with Clive Lloyd and Flat Jack. I saw and played plenty of cricket in the North and South of England. When it rained we ran to the bar (if they had one) or nearest pub for cover. If it weren't for a severe case of Boddingtons on the knee I'd have kept at it. When it wasn't cricket season, I played football and rugby and spent the rest of the time at school/work and the pub. I moved to the States 19 years ago. I think that answers your rather irrelevant questions.
The only negative with the proposed format would be the delay caused by the "changing of the pads", it could become a new ceremonial part of the British summer and allow the perfect opportunity to visit the bar for a refil for those so inclined.
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Why is Malinga's bowling action not considered illegal ? When he bowls, his arm seems "almost horizontal" and his wrist seems to flick as if he is chucking. If the answer to my question is : "Because it is not illegal", then please refer me to a website which contains the official rules of bowling. Wisden & Cricinfo do not provide adequate information and Google sends me on wild goose chase. Thank you.
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Twenty20 is great entertainment, but it's not real cricket. Anyone can beat anyone, as has been remarked, which I think rather proves both of those points. It has it's place, and if the comments here are anything to go by, it'll keep that place. Good :) This tournament has been great fun.
The Ricky Ponting/George W. comparison is absolute genius. Pointing will go down as one of the all-time great batsmen, no doubt, and deservedly so, but her really does have an air of "the terrorists never stop thinking of ways to harm our country - and neither do we!" about him.
@Footnotes - I think the point is that his elbow is straight and his hand is above his shoulder at the point of delivery - that's all the laws of the game specify. I don't think it will become a trend though - how on earth he manages the level of accuracy that he does with an action like that is beyond me! He's a one-off, and it's good for the game in my opinion.
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In these rain delayed jobs where you only have to receive 1/2 the overs, you should only have 1/2 the wickets in hand to play with. That'll make it interesting.
80 off 9 with only 5 wickets. A more even game.
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Punter's biggest mistake was sending home their best T20 weapon 'Roy' Symonds. Surely its against the very fibre of all things that a touring Aussie party are supposed to do - to send home the only chap that likes to blow the head off a couple of cold ones of an arvo. What about the spirit of Boony especially as he's a selector?!
Anyway for those following his movements in the northern hemisphere he consoled himself by getting into a few at the Gold Coast rugby league game the monday after here got back over here.
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