M Nicholas: New game needs a short, sharp shock (14 Sep 1998)

14 September 1998

New game needs a short, sharp shock

By Mark Nicholas

Cricket at the Dome, Aug 24, 2010

BEN 'The Gladiator' Hollioake smashed his seventh double boundary 10 into the Blue Zone at the new Edgbaston Dome in Birmingham last night as the Warwickshire Bears crushed the Surrey Lions in the Budweiser 33s League. The capacity 35,000 crowd revelled in a thriller as The Gladiator played his first game against his old team-mates following his £17 million transfer to the Midlands franchise.

Hollioake, the England captain, produced a remarkable display with both bat and ball as he scored 137 from only 68 balls and took five wickets for 33 runs in his mandatory four overs with the third ball. The 10-ball over experiment has worked well this August, saving time between overs and maximising focus on the play within a play, particularly last night's head-to-head between The Gladiator and Andrew 'The Terminator' Flintoff. Hollioake also scored two assists in run-out dismissals. The Bears look set to qualify for the World Championships at the Sydney Dome in December, joining the Perth Pumas, the Natal Sharks and the Trinidad & Tobago Steelers.

The capacity crowd were treated to some spectacular cricket as the Lions scored 272 for 13 in their 22 overs. The highlights being Owais 'Slick' Shah's 89 off 17 balls and The Terminator's 36 off only four balls. The new hydro turf pitch was adjusted to be a little harder and faster to suit this shorter version of the game and ensured great batting and bowling conditions.

The Dome roof came over for the second innings, the brilliant artificial lights probably giving the Bears a slight advantage as they set about their target. Anurag Singh led the way with a stylish and free-flowing innings of 84, - the leg-side Red Zone was his most profitable strike area.

The Gladiator entered the arena to his normal fanfare and he did not let his fans down. A stunning array of shots all around the wicket ranged from the most brutal straight driven 10s to delicate chips to the Long Leg Double Zone.

The new Dome yet again provided a fantastic venue, with the retractable roof able to guarantee the best of both natural and artificial light and weather. The retractable seats ensure all spectators are close to the action complete with keypads that mean orders for food, drink and merchandise arrive within seconds of being ordered.

The spectacular sight of all 60 advertising panels changing from one sponsor to the next at five-minute intervals, co-ordinated by the Bears' own television studio producer, really does give great value to the eight English Cricket Category Sponsors.

The interval also saw some sensational action with the 'Face the Bowling Machine' game, whereby lucky contestants get the chance to win holidays and cars if they can hit the mechanically delivered cricket balls into the Red and Blue Scoring Zones.

The new Budweiser 33s League has gone from strength to strength in its first three years. No wonder England has now got the best team in the world.

Not my imagination I'm afraid, wish it were. This futuristic look into cricket's crystal ball is the work of Stuart Dalrymple, the director of marketing at Warwickshire and the leading light behind the club's move into the 21st century. It was published recently in 'The Bears' AXA League programme and, with a little editorial licence, I have used it here to illustrate why the game need not be frightened by change. If a 'new' cricket is adapted to woo children, if it is well presented and marketed there is no reason why it cannot be fashionable.

Watching Lancashire's, and in particular Andrew Flintoff's, remarkable destruction of Nottinghamshire in a reduced 26-over match under floodlights last Wednesday made it clearer than ever to me that the shorter the game, the more concentrated the entertainment and the more likely it is that there will be a close finish. Fifty per cent of all Cricket Max games in New Zealand - 20 overs per side - have gone to the last over; 27 per cent to the last ball.

This is not to compromise Test cricket but we cannot hope to attract a majority of today's young people with a game which takes five days to play and then may end in a draw. They have to watch heroes playing something to which they can relate, something fast, modern and fun. With it must come side shows, music, colour, competitions etc - and then perhaps the kids will say: "Dad, are we going to the Bears on Tuesday after school?"

In the coming months the rulers of cricket in this country will restructure the domestic game for the year 2000. With a new millennium must come a new game. Have the championship, divided into conferences ideally, and have 50-over cricket. But bow to the age and have one new - call it commercial if you like - unashamedly different idea to seduce a new audience. It will come one day. Why wait?

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)