There has been a great and quite heated response to the article of a couple of weeks back on T20 cricket, both directly and in the comments section. 

 

Given the interest this follow up article considers the feedback and asks where we go from here. 

 

First of all there are many differing opinions. For an issue as important as this that is hardly a surprise. Some respondents simply didn't like the idea of playing more T20 cricket and don’t see the need to make the sorts of changes in the Open Competitions structure that would be required to make room for it. Others see some merit in the idea but are concerned that it would be difficult to implement and more trouble than it is worth to try to combine more T20 cricket with longer format one day matches. For still others [and I think the majority at this stage] the idea is worth considering further. 

 

A few points perhaps should be made clear from the outset. No one should lose out if they want to continue playing the longer form of overs cricket. It would be entirely up to the individual club to decide how many and if any T20 teams they enter. In some cases this could involve the conversion of an existing team, hopefully, since the intent is to increase the number of players, it would be by adding an extra team. 

 

But first we need to make sure that the reasons for considering introducing T20 league competitions stand up to scrutiny. Perhaps the starting point for anyone thinking about this is a visit to Sydney Parade most weekday evenings. There you will find what looks like 100s of tag rugby players, male and female, taking part. The vast majority are in their 20s or early 30s. This is the sort of target group that cricket needs to attract. Go around the public parks and other sports clubs and you will find thousands more taking part in softball, frizby and other sports. 

 

Given the nature of cricket it is unlikely that anyone taking up cricket as an adult will figure on the higher teams in the club. So we cannot expect that introducing new players to the game will improve the standard of cricket at the top level. But getting people involved creates the potential for more spectators, volunteers and administrators. For the future they may be sponsors or even parents of cricketers. If nothing else it creates the feel of a younger more vibrant sport and improves the social life in the club. It may also provide welcome additional income for some clubs.

 

Of course ‘first timers’ are not the only target audience. Older players [who find 40 over cricket too wearing], players from other countries who cannot commit to giving up a whole day at weekends, players who have given up the sport due to family or work commitments, parents of youth members and, as a transition to adult cricket, some youth players who are not yet ready for longer games, all might find there way onto T20 teams. 

 

What of the second argument from those who like the idea but don’t see how it would work. Certainly there would be a challenge in marrying it with existing league structures. There would seem to be two choices - either treat it as an extra competition that sits below whatever number of divisions there are playing the longer format. This would certainly be the easiest to implement [and would require no major change to registration or starring regulations] but it might deter some better players who only want to play T20 but might be too good for the Division in question. 

 

The second option might be to have separate registration / starring. This would mean that if there were a few T20 leagues, then the top one might indeed include a number of cricketers that previously played in the higher leagues. There would have to be some regulations on the movement of players from the T20 format. On the grounds that one is trying to introduce new players and entice back previous ones [not just provide more cricket for existing players] the case could be made for precluding or restricting people from playing in both formats. All of this is open for discussion.

 

Finally, one might consider some special competitions [say for the over 50s]. There is also the option of running one day festivals [instead of cup competitions] where a few teams take part in even shorter forms of the game. There are no shortage of different formats to try out to try to find one or more that brings new people into the game. 

 

So what is the next step. First of all we need to find out if any clubs are interested in taking part in a T20 league competition to be played either / both as a midweek evening or as part of a brace of matches on a weekend afternoon. Clubs need to discuss this with their members. In the meantime it is suggested that a questionnaire go out to existing players but more importantly to those who have given up in the last couple of years and see if any of the ideas above would encourage them to play again. 

 

Of course the people we really need to ask are those who have never played or have not played for a number of years. So why not find out from your non-cricket playing friends [or work colleagues] if they would ever consider playing a competitive, but fun orientated, form of cricket during the summer. Any feedback would be helpful.