12 July 1996
Aussies launch new version of cricket
By Our Correspondent
It was Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer who first gave us
what is rather snidely referred to as `pajama cricket` - a phrase
that encompasses coloured clothes, day-night games and all the
rest of the razzmatazz that packs in the paying spectators in a
way the traditional version of the game is failing to, these
days.
Those innovations came as a form of rebellion against the official cricket body. And that is ironic - for now, it is the Australian Cricket Board itself that is due to launch, on Friday
July 12, an innovative version of the game that is part of its
campaign to establish cricket as a major sport in Asia.
The eight-a-side game, being played for the first time in Kuala
Lumpur as the Super Eights tournament starting Friday, will
feature some of the top players in the game, from the leading
cricketing nations.
The thrust of this version of the game, like the six a side
version that has been played annually in Hong Kong for some
four years now, is speed. Each match will last two hours, each
side comprising eight players will face a maximum of 14 overs,
and the onus is definitely on the batsmen to rattle up the
runs at the fastest possible pace.
Interesting variations on the basic rules include these:
1) Shots that clear the boundary rate eight runs, as opposed to
the standard six. 2) Each player in the bowling side, with the
exception of the wicketkeeper, must bowl at least one over. 3) A
batsman must retire if he scores 50 runs, but he can bat again if
the other players in his side have been dismissed.
The ACB thinking is on keeping the fundamental nature of the
game intact, while emphasising on "fast, furious action and fun"
according to ACB marketing head David Fouvy. ``We are looking to
expand further, and we are evaluating other Asian cities to
host future tournaments.``
The ACB evidently feels that Test cricket does not have the
marketability required to grab new audiences in the Asian
market. Rather, the thinking goes, a bat on ball, hell for
leather version of the game in which the results are known in
the time it takes to watch an action thriller in a movie house
will have more appeal.
Matinee cricket, in fact, is a good name to give this truncated version - for with a maximum running time of two hours
and the kind of action seen in a Jackie Chan or Sylverster Stallone film, the new version of the game resembles nothing more
than one of those mindless extravaganzas Hollywood churns out
with such regularity.
The basic idea appears to be to wean spectators back from
games such as baseball and basketball, which feature fast action
in a limited time. "By introducing a fast, participant version
of the game, cricket is looking at the grassroots, at
strengthening the sport at the international level," says ACB
chairman Graham Halbish.
"The concept is totally new, and therefore exciting," says
Aussie skipper Mark Taylor. "Some blokes will try to belt the
ball over the fence every ball they face, but if you can averate
between two and three runs per ball, you should be pretty successful."
Fouvy said the ACB has invested heavily in staging and promoting this weekend`s tournament in Malaysia.
The tournament will feature two Australian sides, one Malaysian Invitational side led by former Australian skipper Allan
Border and featuring Sri Lankan stars Sanath Jayasuriya and
Aravinda D`Silva, and teams from India, New Zealand and South
Africa.
The games will be screened on pay television channels in Australia and Asia.
Source :: Rediff On The NeT (https://www.redifindia.com)