da betobet： The hit-or-miss nature of the game suggests little time for strategy, but there’ll be plenty of subplots which could be fascinating, says S Rajesh
S Rajesh in Johannesburg10-Sep-2007
The hit-or-miss nature of the game suggests little time for strategy, but there’ll be plenty of subplots which could be fascinating © Getty Images
Thirty-two years ago, world cricket entered unknown territory when Englandhosted the first World Cup in 1975 – the form of the game was calledlimited-overs internationals, and only 18 such games had ever been playedwhen England and India played the first match of the tournament. OnTuesday, it’s time to set into motion another experiment as South Africaand West Indies kick off the World Twenty20 in a format which is only 16matches old.Shortened attention spans, the plethora of entertainment options, andquite simply, the lack of time means everything – even the most laidbackof sports – has had to adapt, and over the next 14 days, we’ll see justhow successful that adaptation has been on the world stage. Earlyindications – in the markets where the format has been tried in domestictournaments – suggests nothing should stop it from being a rockingsuccess: the weather in all venues is expected to be fair, the conditionsshould be excellent, and the domestic Twenty20 tournaments in South Africahave shown that the people have embraced it completely.The extraneous factors do make a difference, but ultimately, anytournament needs close games to kick it into life, and the Twenty20 is theperfect format to bridge the gap between the great and the not-so-greatteams. Any cricket tournament over the last 15 years of which Australiahas been a part has only had one favourite, and while it’s no differentthis time, the ultra-compressed format allows a much greater chance forone of the others teams to knock them over. The injuries to Michael Clarke(lower abdominal strain), Shane Watson (strained hamstring) and MatthewHayden (back spasms) might not be serious enough to force them to missgames, but South Africa already gave the Australians an early shake-up inthe practice game on Sunday. That could either be a boost to all the otherteams in the competition, or, more likely, be just the trigger for RickyPonting and co to lift their games a notch.Omit Australia from the list, and the group of contenders suddenly expandsto at least six: South Africa and England have the most experience in theformat – and the players to cause plenty of damage – while West Indies,New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka all have the firepower to blow out theopposition if they put it all together for three hours. The format of thetournament means the top should all make it to the next round, but, likein the West Indies, watch out for the group involving Bangladesh. Theknockout blow they delivered to India is too recent to forget, and WestIndies and South Africa will both do well to take their games against Bangladesh with utmost seriousness. It’s still early summer in South Africa, and the nip in the air in the evening could offer the swing bowlers some reason to smile The hit-or-miss nature of the game suggests little time for strategy, butthere’ll be plenty of subplots which could be fascinating. It’s stillearly summer in South Africa, and the nip in the air in the evening couldoffer the swing bowlers some reason to smile – the Australians alreadyindicated they were surprised by the swing on offer in the practice game,and that could be a trend, especially in the evening games.What about the spinners, then? The cool conditions might not be to theirliking, but in the domestic tournaments the slow bowlers haven’t beencarved about like you’d normally expect. Despite the absence of MuttiahMuralitharan, the spinners are still reasonably well represented – DanielVettori, Harbhajan Singh, Brad Hogg and Abdur Razzak are just some of thenames who could push up their popularity ratings in this tournament.The cricket will be the showcase, but there’ll be much more than that onoffer on the grounds. A live band practicing on the outfield suggested aloud opening is in store on Tuesday, while cheerleaders were doing theirrehearsing act in preparation for all the fours and sixes which will bewitnessed over the next couple of weeks.The organisers have also done their bit to ensure that the crowds flock to thecricket – tickets have been priced for as low as R 20 for some matches(it’s usually between R 40 and R 100), while spectators have been allowedpermission to bring in musical instruments to ensure they make themselvesheard. “It’s a South African tournament being showcased to the world” isthe ICC’s anthem, and the next two weeks will show just how spectacular itturns out to be.