Twenty20 cricket, often abbreviated to
T20, is a form of cricket originally introduced in England and Wales 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.
A Twenty20 game is completed in about three hours, with each innings
lasting around 75–90 minutes (with a 10–20-minute interval), 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 all 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.
Pakistan won the second tournament in 2009,
and England won the title in 2010. Currently, West Indies are the reigning champions after winning the 2012 edition.
History
Origins
Former England batsman Andrew Strauss batting for Middlesex against Surrey
When the Benson & Hedges Cup ended in 2002, the ECB
needed another one day competition to fill its place. 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.
The first official Twenty20 matches were played on 13 June 2003 between the English counties in the Twenty20 Cup. 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 title. The first Twenty20 match held at Lord's, on 15 July 2004 between Middlesex and Surrey, attracted a crowd of 27,509, the largest attendance for any county cricket game at the ground other than a one-day final since 1953.
Spread worldwide
Thirteen teams from different parts of the country participated in
Pakistan's inaugural competition in 2004, with Faisalabad Wolves the
first winners. On 12 January 2005 Australia's first Twenty20 game was
played at the WACA Ground between the Western Warriors and the Victorian Bushrangers. It drew a sell-out crowd of 20,000, which was the first time in nearly 25 years the ground had been completely sold out.
Starting 11 July 2006 19 West Indies regional teams competed in what was named the Stanford 20/20 tournament. The event was financially backed by billionaire Allen Stanford, who gave at least US$28,000,000 funding money. It was intended that the tournament would be an annual event. Guyana won the inaugural event, defeating Trinidad and Tobago by 5 wickets, securing US$1,000,000 in prize money.
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.
For 1 February 2008 Twenty20 match between Australia and India, 84,041
people attended the match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground involving the Twenty20 World Champions against the ODI World Champions.
The Stanford Super Series was held in October 2008 between Middlesex and Trinidad and Tobago, the respective winners of the English and Caribbean Twenty20 competitions, and a Stanford Superstars team formed from West Indies domestic players; Trinidad and Tobago won the competition, securing US$280,000 prize money.
On 1 November, the Stanford Superstars played England in what was
expected to be the first of five fixtures in as many years with the
winner claiming a US$20,000,000 in each match. The Stanford Superstars
won the first match,
however no further fixtures were held as Allen Stanford was charged with fraud in 2009.
20–20 Internationals
Main article: Twenty20 International
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 13 June 2005, which England won by a margin of 100 runs, a record victory which lasted until 2007.
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 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.
Every two years an ICC World Twenty20 tournament is to take place, except in the event of an 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. Two Associate teams had played in the first tournament, selected through the 2007 ICC World Cricket League Division One,
a 50-over competition. In December 2007 it was decided to hold a
qualifying tournament with a 20-over format to better prepare the teams.
With six participants, two would qualify for the 2009 World Twenty20 and would each receive $250,000 in prize money.
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. The 2012 ICC World Twenty20
was won by the West-Indies, by defeating Sri Lanka at the finals. It
was the first time in Cricket history when a T20 World Cup tournament
took place in an Asian country. There were 12 participants for the title
including Ireland and Afghanistan as 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.
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.
Matthew Hayden credited retirement from international cricket with aiding his performance in general and fitness in particular in the Indian Premier League.
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."
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.
- If a bowler delivers 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 known as the powerplay).
- After the first six overs, a maximum of five fielders can be outside the fielding circle.
- If the fielding team does not 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 he believes the batting team is wasting time.
Tie deciders
Main article: Super Over
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"
or "Super Over"
Each team nominates three batsmen and one bowler to play a one-over per
side "mini-match", sometimes referred to as a "One1".The team which
bats second in the match bats first in the Super Over.
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.
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