Golden opportunity up for grabs
Michael Atherton, in his first week as The Times’ chief cricket correspondent, casts his eye over the IPL Twenty20 and then the ramifications of the shorter format on all forms of the game
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Michael Atherton, in his first week as The Times’ chief cricket correspondent, casts his eye over the IPL Twenty20 and then the ramifications of the shorter format on all forms of the game. Here he is on the Indian tournament:
Crucially for its future success, the players have taken to it wholeheartedly. This is not surprising when you consider the financial rewards on offer, but when, after the first match, Brendon McCullum, the New Zealander who scored 158 for the Kolkata Knight Riders, said that he could not feel his legs for the first eight balls he faced because of nerves, it was a good sign.
For sports fans are discerning enough to smell a fraud. They need to sense that it matters to players how they perform and whether they win or lose, which is why mere exhibition matches have never taken off. H.L. Mencken's dictum that you never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the public may work for daytime television producers and Hollywood directors, but not for sport. The players care, the public want it and on that basis alone Twenty20 is here to stay. It will drive the finances of domestic cricket the world over.
Over in the Telegraph, Simon Hughes writes that English cricket needs to copy the IPL model. Whatever happens, he says, players will do well financially, concluding: "All in all, not a bad time to be a professional cricketer, eh?"