You’d think that anything that gets more people more interested in the sport and new players knocking balls into the cricket nets has got to be good news for the game – however, when it comes to creating television-friendly cricket specials, there’s a lot of different opinions on what it will mean for cricket going forward.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has a new chairman of late, and as part of the review of the game, is thought to be drafting some proposals for Australian-style cricket competitions to be unveiled in September, according to the Financial Times.
Australia’s Big Bash League, as well as similar leagues in India which play the Twenty20 form of cricket, are extremely popular with audiences – but could it work for Britain?
The twenty over game means that a game lasts roughly three hours, making it much more appealing for time-poor viewers, who are perhaps put off by the thought of watching a five day test match. These alternative leagues also look to draft in players with star quality to make the events more exciting.
The County Clubs are the main opponents – with some predicting that a short-term tournament over just a few weeks could see their own attendances fall by half for test matches.
Twenty20 cricket is played regularly in the UK already, having been invented here, and it’s a game which is constantly growing in popularity. However, there are also questions about how a franchised Twenty20 league might work in terms of the quantity of teams involved, and what would happen to those teams who were not franchised to participate.
So how does Twenty20 style cricket go down at your club? Do you see a future for it as a televised sport in Britain?
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