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Twenty20 may attract specialists

The advent of Twenty20 cricket eventually would mean specialist teams would be selected for the super-short version of the game, according to players who helped launch Australia's first domestic Twenty20 competition yesterday.

The advent of Twenty20 cricket eventually would mean specialist teams would be selected for the super-short version of the game, according to players who helped launch Australia's first domestic Twenty20 competition yesterday.

NSW's hard-hitting all-rounder Dominic Thornely, who won a battle of the country's biggest hitters yesterday at the launch of the Big Bash Twenty20 competition at the Junction Oval, said the game also could provide a new way to attract cricketers.

"The separation of the one-day and Test teams was a big deal, but since then, selectors have picked specialist teams for not only different versions of the game but also for different grounds, horses for courses. And the style of player in Twenty20 may not be the style of player you would pick in a Test or even a one-day team, so you would have specialist teams for that game as well," Thornely said.

"There are kids out there in junior cricket teams — and there is always one kid in a team — known as the big hitters, who are criticised for being that way. Maybe there's an opportunity for those young kids to play cricket in the Twenty20 form before he decides to go and find another sport.

"I'm talking about a certain type of player, like Andrew Symonds, (West Indian) Chris Gayle and (Pakistan's) Shahid Afridi. I'm sure down the track, there will be some young kids out there who are taking up cricket now who would like to turn themselves into Twenty20 players."

Thornely said NSW would play a young team in this season's competition, which begins on January 6. It consists of two pools of three teams, with each team playing one match against the others in their pool. The top side from each pool face off in the final.

Victoria's David Hussey, who came second behind Thornely and his 130-metre hit in the biggest hitters contest yesterday, agreed with his Blues counterpart but warned Twenty20 could harm players. "All players should be wary of it. It's not easy to transfer your game from Twenty20 into a four-day competition. They're both very different competitions and both are very difficult," he said.

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