T 20 cricket seem to be the order of the day today with lots of it played everywhere. The IPL surely has been the talking point of almost every social gathering and even back stage political meetings! The performances of players, franchises and even the none telecasting of it in Sri Lanka. It has definitely caught the imagination of the fans for sure.
Then hard on the heels of IPL will be the T 20 World cup in the West Indies and that amongst nations where the pride, passion, patriotism and everything else come in to play both on and off the field. Well it doesn’t stop there for Sri Lanka. They go on to the USA to play two T 20 games against New Zealand. So in short there is an abundance of T 20 cricket and I am sure we will have much more to come!
On the local school scene too after the series of big matches two big guns in School cricket Royal and S. Thomas’s two of the oldest rivals have now started to play T 20 cricket themselves. How many other schools will follow them only time and the years ahead will reveal it. This brings me to my point of discussion. How good or bad is T 20 to schools?
It is a question that has to be approached and answered carefully without rushing in to conclusions and after considering all options and other facts available. Firstly it is definite that despite all the defending of Test Cricket and ODI cricket, T 20 is and will eventually surpass the longer versions of the game. When it would happen is something we can’t be sure of.
But at the rate the shortest version of the game is catching on I feel it will be a matter of time. If that is the scenario what would the stance of the ICC and the respective Boards take? Are they going to swim with tide or bend with wind or go against it? I doubt anybody swimming against it, as there is immense commercial viability at stake and the fact that there are highly egoistic people willing to invest a small matter of US$ 30 to 40m in the rights and the franchise will only make it happen quicker. As we know the IPL will have 10 teams for the season 4 and the Champions league will be played in South Africa the next year. A clear indication the demand for the format!
I am also very sure that it won’t be before too long that England, Australia and South Africa look to emulate the IPL. And one can’t find anything wrong in it though the ICC may struggle to allocate a time in the middle of the busy schedule countries have. In that situation something will have to give and that something could be the FTP heavily restricting games between countries and more times for franchises to play their brand of innovative cricket! And talking about innovation it was interesting to see Mat Hayden using a rather unusual looking bat specially designed for this version.
The bat itself called the Mongoose has a long handle and a shorter blade though the original size of the bat from the top of the handle to the bottom of the blade is maintained. It seem to give the batsmen more space with a longer handle to get more punch it his shots. At least that was my impression after those massive hits by Hayden.
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| Mat Hayden uses a rather unusual looking bat specially designed for T20 cricket. |
But my main point here is how good is T 20 to schools? Should it be played across the board at all age groups? I wonder whether a proper evaluation and research was done as to the pluses and minuses the game could bring with it to the kids.
I personally feel that the schools need to wait a bit longer to look at this more seriously. They have to ascertain the impact of the game and what positives or negatives may come out of it! To start with I am sure all will agree that the approach will have to be changed in every aspect. Not just in batting or bowling.
But the mental approach too. I accept that the fielding has been taken to an unbelievable level and some of the shot execution of batsmen too has been remarkable. The variations of the bowlers have improved as it is a case of surviving and not wicket taking for the bowlers in this format.
But with all that positives I am still not sure whether a schoolboy should be exposed to such changes and innovations especially in view of the fact that he is still learning his trade. Irrespective of a Kid’s age, he has to be taught and exposed to the basics and basics alone of the game, with knowledge on skill to move to the next level. Instead getting kids to get to a ground and get them to start hitting balls from the word go may not be the correct attitude if cricket development is the objective!
There is no doubt the whole objective of cricket in the schools should be development. In that context T 20 at that stage can only confuse a young kid as he would try to do too many things such as 2 day cricket, 50 over cricket and now T 20 cricket within a very short span.
If T 20 cricket could create such confusion and negatives to an 18 year old, imagine the impact it would have on a U 13 kid? I am afraid its true that T 20 is being spread amongst the U 13 players too which is definitely short sighted and should be stopped. At that age a young player should be allowed to develop on his own by learning to play proper cricket in either batting or bowling, without being pushed to do things that may sound and look artificial to him. One should not try to tamper with the player and his natural talent.
I am a firm believe that the school system of cricket should not be touched or changed as it is the nursery of Sri Lanka cricket which has provided the great names to the game up to now.
A change in that will and can cause a huge detriment to the game and the player and its development. As such if the logic and the arguments are right then the protection of the game and the player is equally right and important!
Roshan Abeysinghe is a leading cricket promoter and an international cricket commentator |
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