Last night's bull****

[Rik E Boy]

While there is no doubt that 20/20 is here to stay and that the excitement that was generated by the crowd was genuine, I couldn't quite shake the unsaftisfied feeling this 'contest' gave me or the artificiality that accompanied it.

The first thing that struck me was just how over hyped the commentators where, it was almost if as if they had a commercial interest in promoting 20/20, perish the thought. India A then proceeded to attempt to throw their wickets away, eventually they succeeded in doing this leaving Australia A a 'target' of 75 to win the 'match'.

In between innings we were then 'treated' to the spectacle of the highly forgettable Rogue Traders miming one of their most forgettable songs but hey, at least it wasn't the Pump it up rip off that makes me see red.

The inevitable triumphal processon that followed was unexceptional as Pup in particular played a lot of no risk cricket after a few failures in 50 over cricket although granted the wicket was not exactly condusive to stroke making.

I am old enough to remember that match in 1978 when the lights were turned on for the first time at the SCG as the Australians faced up to the West Indies. During that match I remember thinking 'this is magic, they should have done this years ago', last night I was thinking 'ho hum, where's the magic?'.

The reason why it isn't magic, even when it is still a novelty is that the players are miked, the best players aren't all there, even the nicknames on the back give the whole concept a 'tribute' match feel to it, you know, the kind of game where Zoe Goss gains her 15 minutes of fame for dismissing Brian Lara or Fatty Vautin taking a spekky in the outfield.

I sat down with an open mind last night but all that so called match last night did for me was hang out even more for the beginning of the new football season.

regards,

REB

[Dirko]

REB, well put. The thing I did enjoy was it was shown in HD ! Awesome pic & sound.

But anyway the cricket...India didn't give a rat, none of 'em could bat, the Aussies tried
to be tough, but the slow pitch was rough, the commentators what a joke, in fact I needed a toke,
hadn't smoked weed for years, so just cracked a few beers...
Went onto SAFooty at half time, the Rogue Traders not a dime, although the chick has a good peach,
still it's cricket not the beach...
The Aussies had a bat then, and **** me what a gem, Gilly spanked a few, but Harby had a spew,
well not really you see, just couldn't hear the shouts of me, me, me, dropped the catch for a laugh,
drank my beers too quick needed to barf, so I went back on SAFooty, and re read Pups thread on season
08, thought the replies were great, ohh hang on the crickets on, should watch, ahh **** it flick over to
Snouts, no new threads so I'm out, crickets over, we won, but footy is far more fun....

[hearts on fire]

While there is no doubt that 20/20 is here to stay and that the excitement that was generated by the crowd was genuine, I couldn't quite shake the unsaftisfied feeling this 'contest' gave me or the artificiality that accompanied it.

The first thing that struck me was just how over hyped the commentators where, it was almost if as if they had a commercial interest in promoting 20/20, perish the thought. India A then proceeded to attempt to throw their wickets away, eventually they succeeded in doing this leaving Australia A a 'target' of 75 to win the 'match'.

In between innings we were then 'treated' to the spectacle of the highly forgettable Rogue Traders miming one of their most forgettable songs but hey, at least it wasn't the Pump it up rip off that makes me see red.

The inevitable triumphal processon that followed was unexceptional as Pup in particular played a lot of no risk cricket after a few failures in 50 over cricket although granted the wicket was not exactly condusive to stroke making.

I am old enough to remember that match in 1978 when the lights were turned on for the first time at the SCG as the Australians faced up to the West Indies. During that match I remember thinking 'this is magic, they should have done this years ago', last night I was thinking 'ho hum, where's the magic?'.

The reason why it isn't magic, even when it is still a novelty is that the players are miked, the best players aren't all there, even the nicknames on the back give the whole concept a 'tribute' match feel to it, you know, the kind of game where Zoe Goss gains her 15 minutes of fame for dismissing Brian Lara or Fatty Vautin taking a spekky in the outfield.

I sat down with an open mind last night but all that so called match last night did for me was hang out even more for the beginning of the new football season.

regards,

REB

Great post REB, i was very disapointed last night aswel. The players didn't give a sh1t and India didn't really care that they made 74, you could tell this by Dhoni's interview after the game. When Harbajhan and Pathan ran into each other to drop that catch, they just laughed, they also didnt give a sh1t. To add to that aswell, India and Australia didn't have there best players playing. Tendulkar was rested, Ponting was injured, Hayden had a little niggle. I think 20/20 games are better to be watched "at the ground" rather than at home. At home, you don't get that feel like you do when your there. The game also would have been better if it was close.

thank you for your time.

[Booney]

Herein lies the basic flaw of Twenty20 Cricket,the possibility of sides crumbling when going the slog and the second innings being almost surplus to requirements.

Did Australia really need to bat? Probably not.

[locky801]

Wasn't a game last night, Indians didn't give a rats, we could have picked 11 from SA footy to take them on last night and we would have won, it was a total insult to the 84 thousand plus that turned up

[gadj1976]

The first thing that struck me was just how over hyped the commentators where,

(insert applause here) Yep, been saying it for ages. When Ian Healy said "no one is out the back" at the WACA because "they're glued to their seats", I realised that Ch 9 are hyping this thing up soooo much, it became embarrassing.

Do they realise that it's not that great a product? I don't know, but it's pretty artificial (good word REB), and sickly sweet. I struggle to watch it on Ch 9 because of the hyped-up-ness of it all. I mean, how could they possibly have Michael Slater in the stands leaning toward the camera claiming that the big run chase will begin after the Rogue Traders. It was 75 for gods sake!

Personally, I don't think much of 20/20. If the good sides were good at 50/50, I struggle to see how the mediocre sides will compete in the shortened version of the game.

PS. India second XI turned up last night and despite what anyone said about them being close to their World Cup winning side, they would've been very underdone. Michael Clarke saying "we've beaten the world champs" was a bit rich too.

[Hondo]

it was a total insult to the 84 thousand plus that turned up

That's the key point here - no matter how some purists hate it, a fair few others love it!

That's the second biggest crowd at the G in the last 12 months?

As Gilly said on radio the other day - this is about entertaining the fans

What went wrong last night was India collapsing for 70 Such a bad performance will kill a match under any format of the game lets be honest. India scored 63 in a ODI back in 1980-81 and the match was over by 12!

REB I'd ask you this .... when was the last time you felt the 'magic' in a 50 over game? For me, I haven't felt it for over 10 years whereas 20-20 brings back the buzz for me.

[jackpot jim]

I sat down with an open mind last night but all that so called match last night did for me was hang out even more for the beginning of the new football season.
regards,
REB

Agree 100% with your comments REB apart from looking forward to the Footy season because of all the NEW rules and interpretation Bullshit we have to put up with every year.
At the end of the day, 20/20 is just another game of cricket and if it aint a close game it's as Boring as hell no matter how much they do to Razz it up.
It's almost like the Superbowl in the USA, Do the Fans go for the game or the Entertainment and Razzamatazz?
I Turned the cricket OFF last night after 5 overs cos the game was over as a contest.

[Lunchcutter]

i must say, whilst i am not absolute cricket crazy, i did really enjoy the atomosphere that the 20/20 had last night... it really seemed like the players were enjoying it too. i can understand why the purists are not too keen, a bastardisation (sp) of a very traditional game

[Andy #24]

REB, well put. The thing I did enjoy was it was shown in HD ! Awesome pic & sound.

But anyway the cricket...India didn't give a rat, none of 'em could bat, the Aussies tried
to be tough, but the slow pitch was rough, the commentators what a joke, in fact I needed a toke,
hadn't smoked weed for years, so just cracked a few beers...
Went onto SAFooty at half time, the Rogue Traders not a dime, although the chick has a good peach,
still it's cricket not the beach...
The Aussies had a bat then, and f*** me what a gem, Gilly spanked a few, but Harby had a spew,
well not really you see, just couldn't hear the shouts of me, me, me, dropped the catch for a laugh,
drank my beers too quick needed to barf, so I went back on SAFooty, and re read Pups thread on season
08, thought the replies were great, ohh hang on the crickets on, should watch, ahh f*** it flick over to
Snouts, no new threads so I'm out, crickets over, we won, but footy is far more fun....

Must have been smoking again to come up with that ditty.

Can't agree with you REB. Your hanging the concept off one shite match. Didn't you enjoy Tait and Lee at the WACA. There have been plenty of debacles in all forms of the game. I would agree in that it's fairly easy for T20 to be a shit match and the hype around it can mean a let down for the crowd. Maybe we need double headers, but that would defeat one of the purposes of the format.

[jackpot jim]

20/20 should try a scoring system like indoor cricket where teams get penalised runs for losing wickets so a Team never gets bowled out in 20 overs and the team batting 2nd HAS TO BAT 20 overs so the spectators and viewers GET their full 40 overs every game.

[GWW]

20/20 should try a scoring system like indoor cricket where teams get penalised runs for losing wickets so a Team never gets bowled out in 20 overs and the team batting 2nd HAS TO BAT 20 overs so the spectators and viewers GET their full 40 overs every game.

Maybe they should just play 20/20 at the beach

[Hondo]

Conspiracy theory time .....

Could India have deliberately played badly/recklessly as a way of getting back at Cricket Australia?

[GWW]

Conspiracy theory time .....

Could India have deliberately played badly/recklessly as a way of getting back at Cricket Australia?

Nothing would surprise me with them, but they're only hurting themselves by doing that.

Then again leaving Tendulkar out is a fairly foolish thing to do if they're wanting to put their best team out on the ground..

[Rik E Boy]

REB I'd ask you this .... when was the last time you felt the 'magic' in a 50 over game? For me, I haven't felt it for over 10 years whereas 20-20 brings back the buzz for me.

That's a good question hondo. I'd probably agree with you on the ten year time period as I am a fan of bat vs. ball (you know, Cricket) and I feel that any form of limited overs cricket is an artificially created scenario created to pay the bills for the real stuff. However, if there isn't going to be any magic at the very first 20/20, then there never will be. But that's just my view. I can appreciate that others won't agree but when the next match is on I'll be doing the dishes instead.

regards,

REB

[Rik E Boy]

Can't agree with you REB. Your hanging the concept off one shite match. Didn't you enjoy Tait and Lee at the WACA. There have been plenty of debacles in all forms of the game. I would agree in that it's fairly easy for T20 to be a s***t match and the hype around it can mean a let down for the crowd. Maybe we need double headers, but that would defeat one of the purposes of the format.

I believe that this format will lend itself to more debacles of this kind. As for Tait and Lee at the WACA, I'm not sure what you're refering to. The Test match? I can't say I enjoyed watching Tait struggling to hit the pitch that's for sure. I believe that 20/20 is a cynical money making exercise that is fundamentally flawed and the fact that you brought up double headers tends to indicate that at least part of you DOES agree with me.

regards,

REB

[Rik E Boy]

Conspiracy theory time .....

Could India have deliberately played badly/recklessly as a way of getting back at Cricket Australia?

Nah, can't have this one. India are very proud that they have finally found something that they can be world champions at. They've yet to grace the number one spot on the Test rankings (at least, not to my recollection) and haven't won the world cup since the Bloods last took the flag.

regards,

REB

[Andy #24]

Can't agree with you REB. Your hanging the concept off one shite match. Didn't you enjoy Tait and Lee at the WACA. There have been plenty of debacles in all forms of the game. I would agree in that it's fairly easy for T20 to be a s***t match and the hype around it can mean a let down for the crowd. Maybe we need double headers, but that would defeat one of the purposes of the format.

I believe that this format will lend itself to more debacles of this kind. As for Tait and Lee at the WACA, I'm not sure what you're refering to. The Test match? I can't say I enjoyed watching Tait struggling to hit the pitch that's for sure. I believe that 20/20 is a cynical money making exercise that is fundamentally flawed and the fact that you brought up double headers tends to indicate that at least part of you DOES agree with me.

regards,

REB

I meant Tait and Lee against NZ in the T20 match at the WACA. Would only agree in so far that it's very hit or miss in the quality of the game.

[Aerie]

The problem with 20/20 is you generally know the result after about 5 overs. 20 minutes in and so often the contest is over. There is not much value on a wicket, as another slogger will just replace him, unless there is a huge collapse like the Indians on Fri night.

It is just light entertainment and there is nothing wrong with that. It's a pity the majority of people prefer this form of entertainment in preference to the pure form of the game that is Test cricket.

With regards to 50 over cricket. I was of the opinion that I wouldn't really care if that form of the game was taken over by 20/20, but having watched a reasonable amount of 20/20 cricket now, I hope even that doesn't happen. At least with 50 overs there is some ebb and flow.

The danger is losing players to these 20/20 comps in India (or wherever they'll be held next) and therefore lowering the standard of Test cricket. I don't blame the players for making a fortune when the opportunity presents itself, but for the good of the game I hope the best players always aspire to play at the highest level and that is Test cricket.

[stampy]

get over it REB and the other whingers, 20/20 is here to stay, 84000 at the 'G frday night seals the deal, though it was disappointing the way the indians approached the contest i for one wasnt unhappy at us flogging them