Old fiddles still play the tune
In Sri Lanka's Sunday Times , Ranil Abeynaike looks at the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 and IPL and surmises that both were tournaments for youth
Jamie Alter
25-Feb-2013
In Sri Lanka's Sunday Times, Ranil Abeynaike looks at the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 and IPL and surmises that both were tournaments for youth. He then compares this to Sri Lanka's latest Twenty20 squad, where four players are under the age of 25 and four are beyond 30. Sri Lanka has always been conservative with their selections, writes Abeynaike, preferring to stick with known and proven players for the longer and shorter versions of the game.
In the same Sunday publication, SR Pathiravithana compares "our lovely little game of cricket" to what happened when king Midas was granted his wish and everything that he touched turned to gold.
A few moons back when Twenty20 cricket hit the billboards many a cricket lover did not take it seriously as it was originally meant as a vehicle to spread the game among the non-cricketing countries. It was an attempt to give the non-cricketers a cricketing version akin to their loveable baseball and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
However down the line there was a bright little guy who felt that this virus also could be spread around the conventional cricketing world. He knew any surface sports lover would love something that could and would end no sooner than it begins and at the same time the business world that is full of TV cameras would grab it with both arms.
Jamie Alter is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo