What does 'Twenty20' mean?
Saturday, March 15 2003
For English cricket fans in 2003, it means a whole new ball game. The tournament brought in to replace the old Benson & Hedges Cup promises to be fast, furious and instant. The eighteen counties have been divided into three groups and will participate in round-robin leagues in June. The three group winners and the best-placed runner-up will qualify for the final, to be held at Lords on the 19th of July.
What can we expect to see? In short, Action. A twenty over per side game played on normal grounds with traditional one-day rules - a minimum of five bowlers per side delivering a maximum of 1/5 of the available overs each, fielding restrictions in the first six overs, free hits after a no-ball and, of course, with this being England, plenty of rain and messrs Duckworth and Lewis making the occasional appearance.
There are other regulations making an appearance for the first time in the English game. For a start, there will be a far stricter application of the time allocated for the completion of a bowling team's allocation of overs. The side taking the field in the first innings will have just 75 minutes to get through their 20 overs. For every over which hasn't been bowled in the allocated time, a six run penalty will be added to the batting side's total. Time wasting by batsmen will be penalised by having five runs deducted, and a one minute 45 second time-out rule will apply after the fall of a wicket.
Is it cricket? That remains to be seen.
Posted by Eddie
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