cricket20 :: Text Edition

cricket20

Text Edition

Top Stories

WACA braces for bumper crowd

Officials of the Western Australian Cricket Association expect tonight's historic Twenty20 game between Western Australian and Victoria in Perth to attract a bumper crowd.

Officials of the Western Australian Cricket Association expect tonight's historic Twenty20 game between Western Australian and Victoria in Perth to attract a bumper crowd.

Although they were reluctant to put a figure on the likely attendance yesterday, it is believed the WACA expects the combination of the abbreviated form of the match and the pulling power of Shane Warne to draw a crowd.

The 20-over format, which is used in England, is being trialled in Australia for the first time tonight and will be followed by another game between Australia A and Pakistan in Adelaide tomorrow evening.

WACA chief executive Tony Dodemaide said it was hard to guess a likely attendance at the WACA Ground, but indications were the public interest was there.

Dodemaide said the experiment would provide valuable market research into the potential of Twenty20 cricket in this country. "We thought the concept would appeal to people and it's really gaining a head of steam," Dodemaide said. We've got reason to believe it will have a good turnout."

Hopefully, that means the WACA will have no further dramas with long queues outside the ground, as has been the case in several big matches and most recently when more than 10,000 fans turned out to watch Brett Lee and NSW take on WA in the ING Cup this month.

Tonight's match starts at 6pm (Perth time) and finishes just after 9pm. Dodemaide said Twenty20 had the ability to attract new fans, particularly families.

"It has been a huge success (in England)," he said. "A third of those people who attended had never been to a cricket match before. It appealed to a different, younger crowd and to families - knowing it's three hours of entertainment and you can still get the kids off to bed at a reasonable time."

While purists recoil in horror and ponder whether it is another step in the 'dumbing down' of cricket, WA coach Wayne Clark embraced the concept. Clark said it would not just be a 40-over slog-a-thon. "I don't think it will be totally agricultural," Clark said yesterday."

"I think there will be a lot of scurry and a lot of singles taken. You'd be looking at making sure there are no dot balls, whether it be by a boundary or a single. But 20 overs is still a fair bit of time. If you go at it too hard and are suddenly four or five down it becomes difficult."

Clark, who expects a score of 150-plus to be competitive, said bowlers would be challenged and need to use more variations in pace. While popular in England, Clark and Dodemaide said it would be difficult to fit a competition into the already crowded domestic calendar.

Text Edition Home

Cricket | Champions League Cricket | IPL | ICL | Twenty20 World Cup