Re: Ricky Ponting remains unconvinced on Twenty20 concept
I don't understand why Australians are not able to adapt to Twenty20 format, afterall they are the masters of getting flying start against all teams, they were the first one to cross 400 (even though the opponent crossed their mark on same day). Is it just because other teams have gathered hitters who can last 20 overs and provide competition??
Re: Ricky Ponting remains unconvinced on Twenty20 concept
Completely agree with infiniti. What you guys consider traditional cricket is no better or worse than 20/20 cricket. First of all, ODI is not traditional cricket either. To be honest, it is just a half-assed version of Twenty20 cricket. If Packer or who ever had the blueprint of Twenty20 cricket in front of him, I'm absolutely certain that he would have skipped the ODI concept for his league. Would Twenty20 seem more "traditional" and effectively "legitimate cricket" to you guys if it had been invented in the 70's? In my opinion, it is no more or less legitimate than ODI and, heck, even Test cricket. When cricket was played for the very first time, I'm quite certain it did not have the exact same rules as Test cricket now.
The fact is that it is time to move on. Cricket is a very archaic sport that always seems reluctant to change. I personally don't care if Australia goes on to win every Twenty20 game they play in the future. I would rather watch them kick Pakistan's arse in 3 hours than 10.
Well said. Last line was icing on the cake.
I was about to get the same point across, but you probably said it much better than I would have.
Re: Ricky Ponting remains unconvinced on Twenty20 concept
I am a bit tired of typing...so I will only say this.
To summarize, My problems with 20/20 :
(1) Games do not accurately judge the quality of the teams because it is WAY TOO SHORT.
(2) SEE BALL, HIT BALL cricket that is hugely biased against bowlers. Skills of Afridi more valued than that of Dravid/Mohd Yousuf/Jacques Kallis.
I can accept (2), if Twenty20 is renamed "Slogout" and sheds all pretensions of following traditional Cricket standards.
Bottomline - The only basis of Twenty20 is COMMERCE.
Re: Ricky Ponting remains unconvinced on Twenty20 concept
It is not the flaws of the Twenty 20 Cricket, it is something which we have also noticed with Australian mentality. Australians are not graceful losers. Whenever they lose they always try to come up with an excuse. Once or twice the excuses are acceptable but not every time.
Last night after the second semi final Gilchrist couldn't openly admit that the opposition outclassed him. He started praising India then again talked about the format of the game where the margin of error is so low.
Yes Twenty 20 is different from Test and ODI however once you are in a competition, you either win or lose. If you win that means you were better than the opposition, if you lose the opposition was better than you. Being a captain of a national side it does not suite them (Ponting/Gilchrist) when they openly whine about their loss. There has to be a difference between a professional cricket player and an emotional cricket fan.