Any new converts?

[NZTailender]

Think it's still unclear what that harmonious mix is, really. Will probably come down to crowd numbers as the determinant.

I don't think schedulers are creative enough IMO. Rather than having a series of ODIs and T20Is proceeding/following each other, I'd like to see them mixed in together.
Perhaps a set standard could be 3 ODIs with 2 T20Is to be played before and after the 2nd ODI. Theoretically get it done in one week - ODI on a Sunday, T20I Wed, ODI Thurs, T20 Fri, ODI Sat.

Agree with you but I know it's probably unrealistic to hope for that. 2 Test series', if that's all one of the participating boards can afford to fund, is what we're stuck with. Don't really understand, though, why India and Aus are only playing 4 Tests, though. I know its scheduling and crowd numbers haven't actually supported the event but for a showpiece series like that, should be 5 Tests.

Yeah thats true. 2 tests series just seem a bit of a waste though, and are especially irritating if it's a 1-1 draw or 0-0 draw with no chance for a decider. 4 tests also bug me slightly in the same regard, but less so because a 2-2 draw would indicate both sides are somewhat evenly matched. But agree that Aus-Ind should be five tests.

 

[chaminda_00]

I don't think schedulers are creative enough IMO. Rather than having a series of ODIs and T20Is proceeding/following each other, I'd like to see them mixed in together.
Perhaps a set standard could be 3 ODIs with 2 T20Is to be played before and after the 2nd ODI. Theoretically get it done in one week - ODI on a Sunday, T20I Wed, ODI Thurs, T20 Fri, ODI Sat.

Would work if it wasn't for that fact that some side these days are starting to filter in Twenty20 specialist. All that would mean is a Twenty20 specialist like Muburak would play ODIs or be part of the squad. He has played enough ODIs FFS.

 

[Polo23]

Yeah but blokes like Shahid have been the least successful at the game, something which no-one would have predicted before they kicked off. Mindless slogging won't you anywhere. It's a game with more nuances than people give it credit for.

Completely disagree.

Almost every wicket to fall in 20/20 is some block swinging the bat as hard as he can, and getting caught on the boundary. This is not cricket.

I prefer CRICKET, not the joke of a game 20/20 is.

 

[NZTailender]

Would work if it wasn't for that fact that some side these days are starting to filter in Twenty20 specialist.

Yeah but you would have a big enough squad to allow for that, and would create a tougher challenge to try and win.

As far as the specialists go, a lot of the specialists have mainly been younger guys given a run since there isn't room for them yet in the test or ODI teams, or seasoned pro's who have been just outside international recognition for most of their careers and get rewarded with a T20I cap.

 

[NZTailender]

Almost every wicket to fall in 20/20 is some block swinging the bat as hard as he can, and getting caught on the boundary. This is not cricket.

I prefer CRICKET, not the joke of a game 20/20 is.

Almost every? That's a big generalisation.

T20 cricket cuts out the 30 overs of fluff from ODIs. Tests are for proper batting and building a score. T20s are for trying to score as much as possible as quick, as possible. It is what it is and doesn't try and masquerade as anything else, really.

Not to mention most of the successful T20 players to date have done it in a more orthodox fashion. People who generally try and slog it every ball are fairly dire players anyway; Afridi, Ronchi et all.
Very few can pull that kind of batting style off, and those who do generally have the skill and class to bake it up, not to mention change their game to bat 'normally' - Jayasuriya for example.

Shaun Marsh was the best batsman of the IPL and he hardly went through the entire tournament simply slogging the ball.

 

[pasag]

Sad but true.

 

[Furball]

Love domestic T20, hate international T20.

 

[archie mac]

I did hate it, but now I despise it

 

[Redbacks]

It's like watching a football match replay, when you already know the score is 0-0. Any situation where the value of a wicket is almost pointless for the mojority of the game, takes out any thrill of a batsman genuinely displaying his skills.

Am I alone in saying, quantity of the runs, in any form of the game, does not directly = entertainment.

 

[NZTailender]

It's like watching a football match replay, when you already know the score is 0-0. Any situation where the value of a wicket is almost pointless for the mojority of the game, takes out any thrill of a batsman genuinely displaying his skills.

Am I alone in saying, quantity of the runs, in any form of the game, does not directly = entertainment.

Sigh. People tend to skip around the outside when looking at the pros and cons of T20s. Like reading a summary of a book as opposed to reading the whole thing.

 

[Uppercut]

Indeed. "Oh, you're watching T20? So you like watching muscly men hit a ball as hard as they can to the boundary before skying it and getting caught? Because that's all T20 is."

 

[2freddie]

but guys twenty20 cricket is actually exciting and creates great atmosphere pretty much everytime. the tickets are cheaper. in tests, the u would have to agree the attendances, atmosphere and ticket prices are all worse...

 

[Redbacks]

Sigh. People tend to skip around the outside when looking at the pros and cons of T20s. Like reading a summary of a book as opposed to reading the whole thing.

where T20 is a simile to the book summary, describing some of the highlights of the game, and the test match is the full story, where the characters are built, through a slow and steady process, culminating in true appreciation of the key moments?

 

[Top_Cat]

where T20 is a simile to the book summary, describing some of the highlights of the game, and the test match is the full story, where the characters are built, through a slow and steady process, culminating in true appreciation of the key moments?

How about we put it this way; if Test cricket was all there was available for people to watch, the game as a financially viable international spectacle would die.

Do you eat healthy all the time or sometimes do you just hanker for a little McD's? Twenty20 has its place, it's not to replace Tests. I, personally, love a nuanced, well-paced movie but sometimes, I put in Old School for a good laugh.

 

[NZTailender]

where T20 is a simile to the book summary, describing some of the highlights of the game, and the test match is the full story, where the characters are built, through a slow and steady process, culminating in true appreciation of the key moments?

Tests is a long piece of beautiful, meandering, musical composition with highs and lows, using many different instruments in it's development.

T20 is a short, fast rock song that pays the bills so the composers can keep composing the beautiful compositions.

 

[NZTailender]

Indeed. "Oh, you're watching T20? So you like watching muscly men hit a ball as hard as they can to the boundary before skying it and getting caught? Because that's all T20 is."

Common comment heard by people who aren't die hard cricket enthusiasts like those of us on these forums: "Oh, test cricket? It's so boring!"

 

[fredfertang]

I suppose it's unrealistic to expect folk who aren't cricket fans to understand what boring means in a cricketing context - a good example will be all Bangladesh fans and most neutrals hoping for a fascinating session of unremitting tedium in Chittagong tomorrow morning - as opposed to watching the IPL Imbeciles scoring 280 in twenty overs on a tiny pitch - high scoring 20/20 is monotonous in the extreme but I will admit to getting some enjoyment out of watching it in less than perfect batting conditions - Middlesex defeating Lancashire this year for example

 

[NZTailender]

I suppose it's unrealistic to expect folk who aren't cricket fans to understand what boring means in a cricketing context - a good example will be all Bangladesh fans and most neutrals hoping for a fascinating session of unremitting tedium in Chittagong tomorrow morning - as opposed to watching the IPL Imbeciles scoring 280 in twenty overs on a tiny pitch - high scoring 20/20 is monotonous in the extreme but I will admit to getting some enjoyment out of watching it in less than perfect batting conditions - Middlesex defeating Lancashire this year for example

Funnily enough, nearly all of the players in the current Aus v India test played in the IPL.


Ugly sloggers and imbeciles, the lot of them.


And to be a cricket fan, you don't have to love tests and find grinding out runs the best thing on the planet.

 

[Richard]

Sad but true.

Not all products follow that IMO. And there's fair evidence that, at least yet, the decline of ODIs is overstated.

Anyway still have absolutely zero interest in Twenty20 and never will do, any more than I'll ever have interest in boxing, swimming or netball.

 

[Uppercut]

If you don't like it, you don't like it. I hate the line of "T20 is **** because tests are better", though.