Giving the fans what they want
The fans got what they wanted in the third Twenty20 finals day
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This season has seen a new range of innovations brought into one-day
internationals but early trials of Supersubs and Powerplays met with a
decidedly cool response from players and public alike. The same cannot be
said of the most successful limited-overs innovation in recent years as a
full house at The Oval demonstrated the continued thirst for Twenty20
action - both on and off the field.
Heading to the ground in the morning the trains, tubes and buses hosted a sea of
various coloured shirts as Lancashire, Leicestershire and Somerset fans
made the long journey - for what ultimately could have proved a
depressingly short stay for their team. There was also the slightly
confusing sight of a couple of guys in Warwickshire shirts - perhaps they
had forgotten they'd been knocked out via a bowl-out against Surrey.
Maybe they knew that their mascot - Carmen Bear - would pull off a
thrilling victory in the mascot race, or maybe they were just making the trip to enjoy the
half-time entertainment provided by Girls Aloud.
Being a county supporter certainly demands some dedication, not to mention
a disturbing enjoyment of a lack of sleep, and the need to own a reliable car. One
Lancashire fan had set off from Manchester at 4.30am, arriving in London
four hours later. His plans were to travel back north once Lancashire's
participation had been ended and, as they progressed into the finals, he
realised coffee would be needed for the return journey. "Oh well," he
said, "it's Sunday tomorrow, so I can have a lie-in."
Surrey fans did not have the same problem of a long distance journey, in
fact they had home advantage when they took on Lancashire in a repeat of
last year's semi-final. By the time Surrey were beaten by 22 runs, the supporters
would have been grateful for the short hop home.
The crowd grew during the first semi-final and so did the atmosphere.
Lancashire's clash with Surrey had plenty of spice, and the crowd were
certainly not shy of having a word (it must be a North-South thing). But by
the time Leicestershire and Somerset took to the field the various
beverages on offer had had time to take effect and the singing was now in full
voice. Clear sections of support for each county began to take on each
other in an attempt to sing the loudest and most out-of-tune chants they
could manage.
Crowd participation is a huge part of Twenty20 cricket, although the minor
scuffle that broke out as the afternoon wore on probably isn't what the
ECB had in mind. The fan who was escorted away, to the amusement of the
rest of the stand, had obviously had money on Sid the Shark and not Carmen
Bear.
The electric pace of Twenty20 means the spectators can't take their eyes
of the on-field action for a moment, not only so they won't miss anything
but also for their own safety. Andrew Flintoff hit one flat, straight six
which went like a tracer bullet, while one fan found a Darren Maddy sweep
heading straight into his foolishly unguarded pint. Another spectator
decided to try and catch a thunderous shot from Alistair Brown and was
left wringing his hand in pain. He will have more sympathy next time he
watches a catch go down.
Sadly, the crowd did not get nearly as involved with the half-time
entertainment from Girls Aloud as they had with the cricket. A
small group of 'fans' amassed in front of the stage area - some old
enough to know better - but generally the sense was that the crowd wanted
either to go home and lick their wounds, in the case of Surrey and
Leicestershire, or to get ready for the final.
And that just emphasises one of the developments in this summer's
Twenty20, which has been notable for a reduction in the gimmicks that were
such a large part of the spectacle when it started in 2003. Girls Aloud
had the misfortune of falling foul of the weather but Twenty20 cricket is
now able to stand on its own two feet. The two semi-finals are a perfect
example of this, one match produced more than 400 runs, the other a thrilling
last over finish. Somerset's fightback even led one long-suffering fan to
remark, "I'd rather watch Carl Gazzard than Girls Aloud." Twenty20 is
about giving the fans what they want, and clearly they are not tiring of
the cricket ... but the entertainment is another matter.
Andrew McGlashan is editorial assistant of Cricinfo