Twenty20 Cricket: The Return!
Article Date: 21st June 2004
2004's best cricket tournament!
After a massively successful first season the Twenty20 cup competition returns to the cricket grounds of England and Wales in 2004. In 2003 Twenty20 cricket brought to the masses a form of cricket jam-packed with action. Its main aim was to get bums on the seats of the county grounds which had for all too long been a bit too empty.
In 2002 there were 2 main forms of cricket being played in both domestic and international matches in England and Wales. At the top there was international Test Cricket, a form which takes place over 5 days and also the 4-day domestic county championship. Then there was one-day cricket which takes place on both the international and domestic arenas. Invariably this form lasts around 6-7 hours.
The problem was that these forms of the game were attractive enough to the cricket fan who had been brought up with cricket from a young age and didn't know much else. But it was the ECB's challenge to introduce cricket to the masses at a much simpler level, breaking it down to the basics and as with football and rugby it had to take less time to complete.
Time was probably one of the most important factors as it had to be able to fit into evenings, meaning that people didn't have to get days off work and children could go to the matches after school and still get to bed on time.
Well after a bit of brainstorming Twenty20 cricket was born.
Twenty20 Cricket: a new concept?
When Twenty20 cricket was introduced on June 13th 2003 it was banded around as a new and innovative idea, but was it really all that new?
Back in October 2002 a handful of players from Chipping Sodbury Cricket Club went to Cardiff's Millennium stadium to see Power Cricket. It was then billed very much like today's Twenty20 cricket and was supposed to attract the 16-25 year old part of the market. If Power Cricket had been developed it could have proved a success, but Power Cricket took too long, with 4 x 15 over innings.
Once Twenty20 cricket came along there was no way back and it is rumoured that the company that started Power Cricket has now disappeared.
Twenty20 cricket was not only a development of the ideologies of Power Cricket, it also stemmed from the type of cricket that boys and girls played when they were young cricketers. And what was that form of the game? Well it was 20 overs-a-side cricket, yep pretty much like Twenty20 cricket! There is also the Bristol and District senior knockout competition which like many competitions throughout the UK takes place over.....you guessed it 20 overs for each side. So the idea really wasn't that groundbreaking!
Did Twenty20 2003 work?
Last year's Twenty20 domestic 20-over matches did work, they were huge successes attracting over 250,000 people to the grounds over a short period of time. The buzz which was created left everyone in anticipation of the 2004 competition even as soon as last year's had finished.
Twenty20 2004: What a year it will be!
With some matches already sold out, the atmosphere at county grounds this summer should be amazing. Last year players had been connected to microphones and ear-phones so that they could communicate with the commentary box and the rest of the world. This year the ECB has taken it one step further...let's wire up the umpires! Yep, this year the umpires will have to explain their dodgy decisions or moments of sheer brilliance to the viewers.
Derby Fever!!
A new Derby Day feature has been included to provide a special evening of Twenty20 Cup passion on Friday July 9. Five of the country's major derby matches take place on the same night: Sussex v Hampshire, Warwickshire v Worcestershire, Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire, Gloucestershire v Somerset and Surrey v Kent.
On to Gloucestershire County Cricket Club!
Assuming that you don't support Somerset, get along to Bristol this summer as our one-day stars hope to go a long way in the Twenty20 Cup competition. The first fixture takes place on Friday 2 July 2004 with Worcestershire v Gloucestershire at New Road, Worcester. On Thursday 8 July 2004 Northamptonshire play Gloucestershire at Northampton. Friday 9 July 2004 is Derby Day and sees Gloucestershire play Somerset at Bristol. On Wednesday 14 July 2004 Glamorgan play Gloucestershire at Sophia Gardens and Thursday 15 July 2004 sees Gloucestershire play Warwickshire at Bristol. Then it's off to the quarter finals on Monday 19 July 2004 and semis and final on Saturday 7 August 2004 at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
So for once there is no doubt about it (except for the usual weather worries!), the Twenty20 Cup 2004 will be one brilliant spectacle and I seriously advise that anyone who gets the chance should go to watch this spectacular 'new' version of the game. Take your family and anyone else you can bung into your car! It's probably the best way to introduce someone to the game of cricket - hopefully not to rainy cricket!
