States licking their lips over Twenty20

Australia’s Twenty20 international against India in February could draw the biggest crowd of the Australian season, Peter Lalor writes in the Australian. Cricket Victoria expects more than 80,000 fans will flock to the MCG for the three-hour fixture.

There are only two international Twenty20 matches scheduled for summer. Last year, nearly 30,000 turned out to see the Twenty20 final between Victoria and Tasmania. One state official said that the new form was "where the big bucks are" and claimed it was the only state generating a profit. Costs for the Twenty20 matches are considerably lower than for one-day internationals or Pura Cup matches.

In the same paper, Malcolm Conn suggests that the ICC World Twenty20 should be used a template for future World Cups.

This is a far cry from almost two months of the often soporific cricket that dragged itself around the Caribbean this year for the traditional World Cup, which was fittingly decided in total darkness amid complete chaos as Australia claimed a third successive title.