Twenty20, or T20 as it's sometimes known, was designed to encourage more spectators to enjoy the sport both at the ground as well as television. As is obvious from the shortened format as well as more exciting variables, T20 has been able to achieve its objective quite comfortably. The effect continues to be noted in the immediate spike in the sales of cricket suppliesand the drastic improvement in thecricket equipment industry,once the T20 format became famous.
T20 was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board or the ECB in 2003. It was heavily marketed with the slogan "I don't like cricket, I love it", that is taken from the song Dreadlock Holiday with the English band 10cc. The format for Twenty20 cricket is very comparable as what we termed as one day internationals. Both have two teams and a single innings, but the difference here is that every team is only going to bat for a maximum of 20 overs rather than 50.
With the necessary cricket accessories and cricket supplies, a Twenty20 cricket game is played within around Three hours and 30 minutes, and each innings lasts about 75 minutes. This brings the time of the game played all the way down when compared to average Test cricket match that will last Five days.
In 2002 when the Benson and Hedges Cup had ended, the England and Wales Cricket Board needed another 1 day game to fill its place. Sponsorships were being reduced and crowds were definitely getting smaller and cricket's popularity needed some boosting. So, a quick paced game which was to be very exciting and easily accessible to thousands upon thousands of fans worldwide who were being turned off watching the longer games came to life.
The first Twenty20 game that was played at Lords on the 15th July, 2004 was between Middlesex and Surrey and drew a crowd of 26,500 people. It was the biggest county cricket attendance since a one day final in 1953. Furthermore, Australia's first Twenty20 was a sell out with a crowd of 20,700.
At The Gabba in Brisbane on the 5th January 2007 New South Wales Blues played the Queensland Bulls. An expected crowd of 11,000 on pre-match ticket sales caused a significant disruption and plenty of fans were granted free entry when 27,653 excited people turned up to watch the game.
Such as the case with one day cricket, the true popularity of T20 has been noted in the sub continent i.e. India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, all of which are nations where cricket has a cult-like status. This was evident in the two finalists in the first T20 cricket world cup located in South Africa in 2007. The tournament's finalists were Pakistan and India, with India winning the nail biting match with 5 runs.
As outlined above, the main difference between the T20 format and the 1 day internationals is virtually nothing based on the required equipment. Players in both formats use critical cricket accessories such as pads, Leg guards, elbow shields, and helmets over and above the standard cricket supplies like a bat and ball.
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Gordon is a sports writer with a interest in cricket,surfing,boxing and snowboarding in particular.