New Law To Change The Face Of Twenty20 Cricket
Article Date: 1st April 2006
Law change to Twenty20 Cricket
ARSE
The MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) the organisation charged with guarding and developing the laws of the game has announced the introduction of a new law which will see a change to Twenty20 cricket in 2006.
The new law makes reference to the use of sightscreens. In all forms of the game the sightscreen is the structure situated behind the boundary behind the bowler's arm. It assists the batsmen in seeing the ball against the background. In Twenty20 cricket the sightscreens are black and the ball is white.
When the sightscreen is not in use i.e. when the bowler is bowling from the other end, the sightscreen converts to display an advert. Under the proposed new law the fielding captain will be given the opportunity to nominate one ball (not within the batsmen’s first 6 balls) whereby the in-use sightscreen is converted to display the advert. This will then create an immediate disadvantage to the batsmen and present an increased opportunity for the advertiser.
An MCC spokesman said: “The Twenty20 format has become well known as a batting feast where balls are smacked to all parts of the ground as the bowler returns to their run-up with tail between legs. The new law will try and change this, for at least one ball anyway. Twenty20 cricket has proved an enormous success and we are attempting to continue this success with the honing of the format.”
Opinions on the county circuit vary and some have been slightly more cautious. Gloucestershire captain Jon Lewis commented: “I don’t mind change, but Twenty20 has already transformed the face of world cricket dramatically and I think we should allow everything to settle a bit more before we start making changes such as this.”
The new law will be trialled during the 2006 Twenty20 cup competition. You can see it in action in the first round of games which get underway on Tuesday 27 June 2006. Watch this space as we see how they get on.
