Nepal vs Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates vs Netherlands: who in their right minds is watching this rubbish? Humbly, I must confess my own guilt on that charge. Why do I keep tuning in to a half-baked event occurring within the obscure reaches of Sky Sports 2?
Whatever demons drive me towards midday cricket, you can be sure there are plenty of other viewers with equally odd reasons for watching. Heck, some weirdos might even love it more than Test matches.
Like every other international cricket competition, the ICC World T20™© is a protracted, recurrently predictable embarrassment. Yet hope remains intact for the 2014 trophy. After all, the shortest format of the game still cultivates the greatest mass entertainment appeal.
Once a year it does no harm to put on a fancy show, fully razzle-dazzled with quick-witted bowlers and Herculean batsmen. These days stars are only born on the IPL and Big Bash stage. Ordinarily crude Test players like Chris Gayle and David Warner suddenly become demigods as soon as they prove they can whack a delivery 90 metres past the bowler's head. As the story goes, if Kieron Pollard had been one of the Argonauts Jason would have surely found the Golden Fleece a lot sooner.
As a burgeoning tournament, since its 2007 inception, the World 20/20 has been more successful than the World Cup or Champions Trophy ever pretended they were, whether in terms of audience engagement or memorable moments at the crease. The Dutch beat England in 2009, Yuvraj Singh blasted six sixes in a single over two years before that and, perhaps the greatest miracle of them all, the Three Lions actually won the silverware in 2010.
So far the Bangladeshi crowds have turned out in numbers to support the host nation. People have even been seen at all-associate member contests like Nepal vs Afghanistan (honest!).
A passion has been awakened in Dhakar, Chittagong and Sylhet which seemingly cannot be quenched. Many more committed enthusiasts have decorated themselves as Bengali tigers than is socially acceptable. Either yellow and black body paint is going cheap or the Bangladeshi nation are rallying behind their unfancied sportsmen in patriotic droves. If only there were as many tigers in the wild as there are in the stands.
We few, we happy few, we merry matinee viewers will be in for an afternoon treat if the tournament can continue in this vein for the next month. By that I mean fun, without which none of the event would be worthwhile. So enjoy the minnows collapsing under the slightest pace, the inevitable English implosion, or the never-ending 'Super 10' stage.
Ireland might produce another shock result; Chris Gayle could launch the first cricket ball to land on Mars; because this is Twenty/20 and, as crazy as it sometimes gets, the world loves it.
Oh, and there are some unnervingly exuberant DJs in the crowd too.
Like every other international cricket competition, the ICC World T20
Once a year it does no harm to put on a fancy show, fully razzle-dazzled with quick-witted bowlers and Herculean batsmen. These days stars are only born on the IPL and Big Bash stage. Ordinarily crude Test players like Chris Gayle and David Warner suddenly become demigods as soon as they prove they can whack a delivery 90 metres past the bowler's head. As the story goes, if Kieron Pollard had been one of the Argonauts Jason would have surely found the Golden Fleece a lot sooner.
As a burgeoning tournament, since its 2007 inception, the World 20/20 has been more successful than the World Cup or Champions Trophy ever pretended they were, whether in terms of audience engagement or memorable moments at the crease. The Dutch beat England in 2009, Yuvraj Singh blasted six sixes in a single over two years before that and, perhaps the greatest miracle of them all, the Three Lions actually won the silverware in 2010.
So far the Bangladeshi crowds have turned out in numbers to support the host nation. People have even been seen at all-associate member contests like Nepal vs Afghanistan (honest!).
A passion has been awakened in Dhakar, Chittagong and Sylhet which seemingly cannot be quenched. Many more committed enthusiasts have decorated themselves as Bengali tigers than is socially acceptable. Either yellow and black body paint is going cheap or the Bangladeshi nation are rallying behind their unfancied sportsmen in patriotic droves. If only there were as many tigers in the wild as there are in the stands.We few, we happy few, we merry matinee viewers will be in for an afternoon treat if the tournament can continue in this vein for the next month. By that I mean fun, without which none of the event would be worthwhile. So enjoy the minnows collapsing under the slightest pace, the inevitable English implosion, or the never-ending 'Super 10' stage.
Ireland might produce another shock result; Chris Gayle could launch the first cricket ball to land on Mars; because this is Twenty/20 and, as crazy as it sometimes gets, the world loves it.
Oh, and there are some unnervingly exuberant DJs in the crowd too.
No comments:
Post a Comment