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Twenty20 needs fine-tuning

Call it comedy if you like, suggest that it's the dumbing down of the great and slowly unfolding drama that is Test cricket, or recommend that it should be played on a beach at low tide - but 20-overs cricket is here to stay.

Call it comedy if you like, suggest that it's the dumbing down of the great and slowly unfolding drama that is Test cricket, or recommend that it should be played on a beach at low tide - but 20-overs cricket is here to stay.

The evidence has been overwhelming this summer, and you can't argue with the market forces that are driving it: 39 000 at the Gabba when the Proteas lost by 95 runs to Australia; crowds of more than 10 000 at state games in Australia with none of the stars present.

A virtually packed Newlands on a Sunday afternoon when the south-easter had briefly abated, making the beach a powerful counter attraction; and 11 000 at Bloemfontein when the irrepressible Eagles demolished the defanged Cobras in the South African 20-overs final last Sunday.

The big revelation of that Bloem game was that there were 11 000 cricket fans in the Free State capital. And on a Sunday nogal.

But if 20-overs cricket is to become an enduring attraction it will need some fine-tuning.

The bimbo moving among the crowd is idiotic

The frenzied pace of the game, the shortened time span and the quickly developing tactics which make it more of a game and less of a kamekazi show should be enough to guarantee its success.

There should be no need for the contrived gimmicks that the TV moguls believe are essential.

Certainly the bimbo moving among the crowd is an idiotic addition. It adds even less to the game than the man with the touring microphone who kept interfering with players, captains and coaches.

The banality of the questions was matched only by the trite answers. They added nothing to the substance of the match, nor its wider understanding for new adherents.

Fortunately for Eagles skipper Nicky Boje, the reception was as bad as MTN's on a drive around the Cape Peninsula.

The Cobras batted like puff-adders

Foam baths, cuddle puddles, water dumps and the like are all very well at the carnival (along with the bearded lady and the two-headed dog) but the three-hour time span of a 20-overs match should have enough action to make the silly sideshows redundant.

It could also do with two evenly balanced teams - unlike the Bloem final where the Cobras' batting was unable to put up a challenging total, but let's not go there.

The Cobras batted more like puff-adders, who take far too long before they strike.

The Wanderers is expected to filled to the brim on Friday night when the Proteas face Australia for the second Twenty/20 international on South African soil.

It could be a seminal moment for cricket in this country - and that's from someone who believes that any game of cricket that is resolved in less than five days is not worth watching.

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