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WisdenEXTRA No. 10, March 2014
World Twenty20
The joy of six The comedy department of the BBC archive seems an unlikely reference point for the cricket establishment, but those in charge of the World Twenty20 may be familiar with both Fawlty Towers and The Office. While there is significant concern about overkill and burnout with domestic Twenty 20, all four international tournaments have been successes – primarily because, like those two BBC shows, they have left the audience wanting more. The concept of the World Cup has suffered a crisis in the 21st century. The last three football tournaments have been poor – The Times’ Simon Barnes began a review of 2010 by saying “The World Cup is a busted flush” – while cricket’s 50-over version in 2007 was a sprawling nadir. Rugby has had more success yet the tournament still goes on for six weeks. It’s a difficult trick to pull off, especially given the unapologetic avarice governing modern sport, yet the World Twenty20 has been a consistent, emphatic triumph. Each tournament is a rapid festival of batsmen flaying bowlers to all parts which ends before anyone has even considered it might be outstaying its welcome. There will be 35 matches in Bangladesh, played over 22 days, and that includes the preliminary group stage. If the favourites Australia win the tournament they will have done so inside a fortnight. Oliver Twist would have liked this competition. Nishant Joshi, the editor of Alternative Cricket, is part of a generation of cricket writers who have grown
Eagar’s Eye
up with Twenty20. On page two, he explains why it should be treated with more respect by the purists, and why it can co-exist happily with Test cricket. Elsewhere in the tenth edition of Wisden EXTRA, Michael Hussey, who averaged 55 from four World T20s with a strike rate of 140, explains how he played the greatest innings in this fledgling tournament: a miraculous 60 not out from 24 balls to take Australia to victory against Pakistan in the 2010 semi-final. The 2014 tournament includes the likes of Nepal, Hong Kong and of course Afghanistan. In an extract from the new book Elk Stopped Play, Charlie Connelly looks at how cricket is developing in Rwanda – described as the next Afghanistan – and North Korea. Tim Wigmore talks you through the contenders for this year’s tournament, including a sobering assessment of England’s chances. We’ve also delved into the Wisden archive for reports on two of the first three finals – India beating Pakistan in 2007 and England overcoming Australia in 2010 – while the great Patrick Eagar focusses on the 2009 tournament in Eagar’s Eye. In our other regular feature, My First Test, Rob Bagchi recalls a trip to Headingley in 1979 and a tug-of-war between his Indian roots and his Yorkshire upbringing. As always, please send us your feedback. We hope you enjoy this issue. And, of course, the next three weeks of six-hitting. Rob Smyth, Guest Editor
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The peerless Patrick Eagar has taken over 750,000 cricket photographs in his 50-year career. In 2003 he trained his lens on a new format of the game: Twenty20. In the following pages he delves into his unique archive to find some of the most striking images of the first decade of T20. © John Wisden & Company Limited 2014
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WisdenEXTRA • World Twenty20
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