Twenty20

A view of the Twenty20 match between England and Sri Lanka at the Rose Bowl on 15 June 2006

Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in the United Kingdom for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket.

A Twenty20 game is completed in about three and half hours, with each innings lasting around 75 minutes, thus bringing the game closer to the timespan of other popular team sports. It was introduced to create a lively form of the game which would be attractive to spectators at the ground and viewers on television and as such it has been very successful. The ECB did not intend that Twenty20 would replace other forms of cricket and these have continued alongside it.

Since its inception the game has spread around the cricket world. On most international tours there is at least one Twenty20 match and most Test-playing nations have a domestic cup competition. The inaugural ICC World Twenty20 was played in South Africa in 2007 with India winning by five runs against Pakistan in the final.^[1] Pakistan won the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, defeating Sri Lanka by eight wickets.^[2] England won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 defeating Australia in the final by 7 wickets.

History

Origins

England batsman Andrew Strauss batting for Middlesex against Surrey

The idea of a shortened format of the game at a professional level was discussed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 1998 and 2001.^[3]

When the Benson & Hedges Cup ended in 2002, the ECB needed another one day competition to fill its place. The cricketing authorities were looking to boost the game's popularity with the younger generation in response to dwindling crowds and reduced sponsorship. It was intended to deliver fast paced, exciting cricket accessible to thousands of fans who were put off by the longer versions of the game. Stuart Robertson, the marketing manager of the ECB, proposed a 20 over per innings game to county chairmen in 2001 and they voted 11-7 in favour of adopting the new format.^[4] A media group was invited to develop a name for the new game and Twenty20 was the chosen title. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket. A mathematician from Perth, Western Australia, Dr George Christos, also claims to have proposed a similar format to the ICC and ECB in 1997. However, the ICC has dismissed his involvement in developing the final concept.^[5]

Twenty20 cricket was formally introduced in 2003 when the ECB launched the Twenty20 Cup and was marketed with the slogan “I don’t like cricket, I love it”, taken from the 10cc song "Dreadlock Holiday".^[3]

Twenty20 Cup

The first official Twenty20 matches were played on 13 June 2003 between the English counties in the Twenty20 Cup.^[6] The first season of Twenty20 in England was a relative success, with the Surrey Lions defeating the Warwickshire Bears by 9 wickets in the final to claim the Twenty20 Cup.^[7]

On 15 July 2004 Middlesex vs. Surrey (the first Twenty20 game to be held at Lord's) attracted a crowd of 26,500, the largest attendance for any county cricket game other than a one-day final since 1953.

Twenty20 Worldwide

On 10 January 2005 Australia's first Twenty20 game was played at the WACA Ground between the Western Warriors and the Victorian Bushrangers. It drew a sellout crowd of 20,700.^[8]

Starting 11 July 2006 19 West Indies regional teams competed in what was named the Stanford 20/20 tournament. The event has been financially backed by billionaire Allen Stanford, who gave at least US$28,000,000 funding money. West Indies legends also backed the programme, and several "looked after" the teams during their stay in and around the purpose built ground in Antigua. It is intended that the tournament will be an annual event. Guyana won the inaugural event, defeating Trinidad and Tobago by 5 wickets.^[9] The top prize for the winning team was US$1,000,000, but other prizes were given throughout the tournament, such as play of the match (US$10,000) and man of the match (US$25,000).^[10]

On 1 November 2008 the Superstars West Indies team (101-0/12.5 overs) beat England (99/all out) by 10 wickets. England slumped to 33-4 and then 65-8 after 15 overs before Samit Patel's 22 took them to 99 in 19.5 overs, still easily their lowest Twenty20 total. Chris Gayle scored an impressive 65 runs not out.

On 5 January 2007 Queensland Bulls played the New South Wales Blues at The Gabba, Brisbane. A crowd of 11,000 was expected based on pre-match ticket sales. However, an unexpected 16,000 turned up on the day to buy tickets, causing disruption and confusion for surprised Gabba staff as they were forced to throw open gates and grant many fans free entry. Attendance reached 27,653.^[11]

For 1 February 2008's Twenty20 match between Australia and India, 84,041^[12] people attended the match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground involving the Twenty20 World Champions against the ODI World Champions.

Twenty20 attracted billions of fans to the game through the Indian Premier League.The first Indian Premier League which was staged in India in 2008 changed the face of the game.The league involved over hundreds of players contracted and over billion dollars investment.It was won by Rajasthan Royals with the Chennai Super Kings finishing as runners-up.The second edition was staged in South Africa which was won by Deccan Chargers beating the Royal Challengers in the final.The third edition was played in 2010 Indian Premier LeagueIndia despite the many challenges and contraversies occured.The league was won by the Chennai Super Kings with Mumbai Indians finishing as the runners-up.

Twenty20 Internationals

On 17 February 2005 Australia defeated New Zealand in the first men's full international Twenty20 match, played at Eden Park in Auckland. The game was played in a light-hearted manner - both sides turned out in kit similar to that worn in the 1980s, the New Zealand team's a direct copy of that worn by the Beige Brigade. Some of the players also sported moustaches/beards and hair styles popular in the 1980s taking part in a competition amongst themselves for best retro look, at the request of the Beige Brigade. Australia won the game comprehensively, and as the result became obvious towards the end of the NZ innings, the players and umpires took things less seriously - Glenn McGrath jokingly replayed the Trevor Chappell underarm incident from a 1981 ODI between the two sides, and Billy Bowden showed him a mock red card (red cards are not normally used in cricket) in response.

The first Twenty20 international in England was played between England and Australia at the Rose Bowl in Hampshire on the 13 June 2005, which England won by a record margin of 100 runs.

On 9 January 2006 Australia and South Africa met in the first international Twenty20 game in Australia. In a first, each player's nickname appeared on the back of his uniform, rather than his surname. The international match drew a crowd of 38,894 people at the The Gabba. Australia convincingly won the match with man of the match Damien Martyn scoring 96 runs.

On 16 February 2006 New Zealand defeated West Indies in a tie-breaking bowl-out 3-0; 126 runs were scored apiece in the game proper. The game was the last international match played by Chris Cairns - NZC handed out life-size cardboard masks of his face to patrons as they entered the ground.

Criticism

Although the format has proven successful, it has been argued that since Twenty20 encourages far-from-technical cricket, youngsters wanting to pick up the game will be misguided into believing that cricket is all about trying to hit 6s and 4s no matter how you do it.^[8]

Impact on the game

Twenty20 matches can have some exciting displays such as when Batsmen run out to the pitch

Twenty20 cricket is claimed to have resulted in a more athletic and "explosive" form of cricket. Indian fitness coach Ramji Srinivasan declared in an interview with the Indian fitness website Takath.com, that Twenty20 had "raised the bar" in terms of fitness levels for all players, demanding higher levels of strength, speed, agility and reaction time from all players irrespective of role in the team.^[13] Not everyone accords with this view, however, citing for instance the fact that a retired player like Shane Warne has been successful in such tournaments as the IPL.

Shane Warne has never been known for physical fitness. However, other successful retired players such as Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden have. In fact, Hayden credited retirement from International cricket with aiding his performance in general and fitness in particular in the IPL.^[14]

In June 2009, speaking at the annual Cowdrey Lecture at Lord's, former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist pushed for Twenty20 to be made an Olympic sport. "It would," he said, "be difficult to see a better, quicker or cheaper way of spreading the game throughout the world."^[15]

Match format and rules

Format

Twenty20 match format is similar to limited overs cricket in that it involves two teams, each with a single innings, the key difference being each team bats for a maximum of 20 overs. In terms of visual format, the batting team members do not arrive from and depart to traditional dressing rooms, but come and go from a "bench" (typically a row of chairs) visible in the playing arena, analogous to Association Football's "Technical area" or a baseball "dugout".

Middlesex playing against Surrey at Lord's, in front of a 28,000-strong crowd

General rules

The Laws of cricket apply to Twenty20, with some exceptions:

• Each bowler may bowl a maximum of only one-fifth of the total overs per innings. For a full, uninterrupted match, this is 4 overs.

• Should a bowler deliver a no ball by overstepping the popping crease, it costs 1 run and his next delivery is designated a "free-hit". In this circumstance the batsman can only be dismissed through a run out, hitting the ball twice, obstructing the field or handling the ball.

• The following fielding restrictions apply:
  • No more than five fielders can be on the leg side at any time.
  • During the first six overs, a maximum of two fielders can be outside the 30-yard circle (This is sometimes referred to as the powerplay).
  • After the first six overs, a maximum of five fielders can be outside the fielding circle.

• If the fielding team doesn't start to bowl their 20th over within 75 minutes, the batting side is credited an extra six runs for every whole over bowled after the 75 minute mark; the umpire may add more time to this if they believe the batting team is wasting time.

Tie deciders

Currently, if the match ends with the scores tied and there must be a winner, the tie is broken with a one over per side "Eliminator"^[16] or "Super Over":^[17][18] Each team nominates three batsmen and one bowler to play a one-over per side "mini-match", sometimes referred to as a "One1".^[19][20] In turn, each side bats one over bowled by the one nominated opposition bowler, with their innings over if they lose two wickets before the over is completed. The side with the higher score from their Super Over wins.

Tied Twenty20 matches were previously decided by a "Bowl-out".

International

Twenty20 Internationals have been played since 2005. To date, 20 nations have played the format, including all test playing nations.

ICC World Twenty20 tournament

Every two years an ICC World Twenty20 tournament is to take place, except in the event of a ICC Cricket World Cup being scheduled in the same year, in which case it will be held the year before. The first tournament was in 2007 in South Africa where India defeated Pakistan in the final. The second tournament was won by Pakistan who beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in England on 21 June 2009. The 2010 ICC World Twenty20 tournament was held in West Indies in May 2010, where England defeated Australia by 7 wickets.

Domestic

This is a list of the main Twenty20 domestic competitions in each cricketing country.

The Logo of the Super Kings one of the teams featuring in the Indian Premier League, the biggest domestic cricket tournament ever.

Champions Twenty20 League

The Champions League Twenty20 often called CLT20 is a twenty20-based cricket tournament featuring teams from India, South Africa, England, Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Pakistan and the West Indies. The tournament however does not feature equal number of teams from each country. The Winners and the runners-up of the domestic leagues from Pakistan, India, South Africa, England and Australia and the champions of the other 4 countries are also featured in the tournament.

2008 Season

The first edition was supposed to have featured in India with 8 teams.Though there were rumours that only teams from India, South Africa, Australia and England would be allowed to take part, Sialkot Stallions of Pakistan was also allowed entry. The tournament was however postponed and later cancelled due to the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

2009 Season

After the cancellation of the inaugral edition,the tournament witnessed some changes to enhance fan support. The league was to feature 2 teams from India, South Africa, Australia and England and 1 each from West Indies, New zealand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The format of the game was also changed in contrast to the Twenty20 World Cup. However Sialkot Stallions from Pakistan were denied entry due to the political tensions between India and Pakistan and Delhi Daredevils the league topper of the IPL were chosen to substitute them. The venues selected were Hyderabad, Bangalore and Delhi. Domestic league champions Deccan Chargers, Sussex Sharks, Otago Volts and the Wayamba cricket team were eliminated at group stages while the rest of them made it to the league stages.Teams such as Trinidad and Tobago, Cape Cobras, Victorian Bushrangers and NSW Blues who were having a positive lead over their group-parnters Somerset Sabres, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Daredevils and Diamond Eagles made it into the knockout stages. Cape Cobras and Victorian Bushrangers were eliminated at the semis while the other two qualified for the finals. NSW Blues crushed the favourite Trinidad and Tobago at the final to crown themselves as the champions.

Teams participating in Champions League Twenty20

2008	2009	2010
Rajasthan Royals	Deccan Chargers	Chennai Super Kings
Chennai Super Kings	Royal Challengers Bangalore	Mumbai Indians
Sialkot Stallions	Delhi Daredevils	Royal Challengers Bangalore
Nashua Titans	Cape Cobras	Chevrolet Warriors
Nashua Dolphins	Diamond Eagles	Highveld Lions
Victorian Bushrangers	NSW Blues	Victoria Bushrangers
Western Warriors	Victoria Bushrangers	Southern Redbacks
Middlesex Crusaders	Sussex Sharks	TBD
Kent Spitfires	Somerset Sabres	TBD
	Wayamba cricket team	Wayamba cricket team
	Otago Volts	Central Districts Stags
	Trinidad & Tobago	TBD

Records

These statistics are correct as of 30 August 2009 and include all major cricket level Twenty20 matches.

Most Twenty20 runs

Player	Matches	Runs	HS	Career span
Brad Hodge	80	2,547	106	2003–2010
David Hussey	89	2,345	100 (*)	2004–2010
Brendon McCullum	78	2,152	158 (*)	2004–2010
Ross Taylor	66	1,879	111 (*)	2004–2010
Graeme Smith	62	1,856	105	2004–2009

(*) = Not Out

Most Twenty20 wickets

Player	Matches	Wickets	BBI	Career span
Albie Morkel	93	91	4/30	2003–2010
Yasir Arafat	69	90	4/17	2006–2010
Graham Napier	66	88	4/10	2005–2010
Tyron Henderson	75	84	4/29	2004–2009
Umar Gul	52	86	5/6	2005–2010

Other records

• Highest individual score - Brendon McCullum (Kolkata) 158* (73) (2008 IPL)
• Highest team total - by  Sri Lanka 260/6 (20 overs) vs  Kenya 88/10 (19.3 overs) (2007 ICC World Twenty20)
• Most sixes in an innings - Graham Napier (Essex) 16 (2008 Twenty20 Cup)
• Most sixes in career - Ross Taylor 112
• Fastest hundred - Andrew Symonds (Kent) 34 balls (2004 Twenty20 Cup)
• Fastest fifty - Yuvraj Singh 12 balls (2007 ICC World Twenty20) against England
• Most hundreds - Brendon McCullum (Otago Volts , Kolkata Knight Riders and New Zealand) 3
• Best innings bowling figures (International) - Umar Gul (Pakistan) 5/6 (2009 T20)
• Best innings bowling figures (Domestic) - Sohail Tanvir (Rajasthan Royals) 6/14 (2008 IPL)
• Most runs in one over - Yuvraj Singh 36, 6 balls 6 sixes (2007 ICC World Twenty20) against England's Stuart Broad

See also

• List of Twenty20 International records
• List of Twenty20 International games

References

External links

• Cricinfo – Twenty20 records