Twenty20

Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in the United Kingdom for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), in 2003. Both teams have a single innings and bat for a maximum of 20 overs.

A Twenty20 game is completed in about two and half hours, with each innings lasting around 75 minutes, thus bringing the game closer to the timespan of other popular team sports such as football. It was introduced to create a lively form of the game which would be attractive to spectators at the ground and viewers on television and as such it has been very successful. The ECB did not intend that Twenty20 would replace other forms of cricket and these have continued alongside it.

The game has spread around the cricket world. On most international tours there is a Twenty20 match and most Test-playing nations have a domestic cup competition. The inaugural World Twenty20 was played in South Africa in 2007 with India defeating Pakistan in the final.

The Indian Premier League is currently the largest and most popular (in terms of attendance and television audience) Twenty 20 league in the world .

Playing Conditions

The Laws of cricket apply to Twenty20 with some exceptions:

* Each bowler may bowl a maximum of only one-fifth of the total overs per innings (generally four, for a full, uninterrupted game). i.e., 4 per 20

* Umpires may award five-run penalty runs at their discretion if they believe either team is wasting time.

* If the fielding team doesn't start to bowl their 20th over within 75 minutes, the batting side is credited an extra six runs for every whole over bowled after the 75 minute mark; the umpire may add more time to this, if he considers the batting team is wasting time.

* The following fielding restrictions apply:
** No more than five fielders can be on the leg side at any time.
** During the first six overs, a maximum of two fielders can be outside the 30-yard circle.
** After the first six overs, a maximum of five fielders can be outside the fielding circle.

*If the match ends with the scores tied and there must be a winner, the tie is broken with a bowl-out (similar to a penalty shoot-out in football), with five bowlers from each side delivering 1 ball each at an unguarded wicket. If the number of wickets is equal after the first five balls per side, the bowling continues and is decided by sudden death.

*Should a bowler deliver a no ball by overstepping the popping crease, it costs 1 run and his next delivery is designated a free-hit, from which the batsman can only be dismissed through a run out, for hitting the ball twice, obstructing the field or handling the ball, as is the case for the original "no ball".

History

While the idea of a shortened format of the game was discussed in 1998 and 2001, [http://www.cricinus.com/2007/09/twenty20cricket-history.html History of Twenty20 cricket] All Out For Nothing. Retrieved June 9 2008] Twenty20 cricket wasn't formally introduced until 2003 when the ECB launched the Twenty20 Cup in an attempt to curb falling attendances to County Cricket matches. [http://www.cricinus.com/2007/09/twenty20cricket-history.html History of Twenty20 cricket] All Out For Nothing. Retrieved June 9 2008] The first official Twenty20 matches were played on June 13 2003 between a variety of English counties. [ [http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/2003/ENG_LOCAL/TWENTY-20/SCORECARDS/13JUN2003/ Matches played 13th June 2003] Cricinfo. Retrieved June 9 2008] The first season of Twenty20 in England was a relative success with the Surrey Lions defeating the Warwickshire Bears by 9 wickets in the final to claim the Twenty20 Cup. [ [http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/2003/ENG_LOCAL/TWENTY-20/SCORECARDS/KNOCK-OUTS/SURREY_WARWICKS_TWENTY-20-FINAL_19JUL2003.html Twenty20 Cup, 2003, Final - Surrey v Warwickshire] Cricinfo. Retrieved June 9 2008]

On 15 July 2004 Middlesex vs. Surrey (the first Twenty20 game to be held at Lord's) attracted a crowd of 26,500, the largest attendance for any county cricket game other than a one-day final since 1953.

On 12 January 2005 Australia's first Twenty20 game was played at the WACA Ground between the Western Warriors and the Victorian Bushrangers. It drew a sellout crowd of 20,700.

On 17 February 2005 Australia defeated New Zealand in the first men's full international Twenty20 match, played at Eden Park in Auckland. The game was played in a light-hearted manner - both sides turned out in kit similar to that worn in the 1980s, the New Zealand team's a direct copy of that worn by the Beige Brigade. Some of the players also sported moustaches/beards and hair styles popular in the 1980s taking part in a competition amongst themselves for "best retro look", at the request of the Beige Brigade. Australia won the game comprehensively, and as the result became obvious towards the end of the NZ innings, the players and umpires took things less seriously - Glenn McGrath jokingly replayed the Trevor Chappell underarm incident from a 1981 ODI between the two sides, and Billy Bowden showed him a mock red card (red cards are not normally used in cricket) in response.

The first Twenty20 international in England was played between England and Australia at the Rose Bowl in Hampshire on the 13 June 2005, which England won by a record margin of 100 runs.On 9 January 2006 Australia and South Africa met in the first international Twenty20 game in Australia. In a first, each player's nickname appeared on the back of his uniform, rather than his surname. The international match drew a crowd of 38,894 people at the The Gabba. Australia convincingly won the match with man of the match Damien Martyn scoring 96 runs.

On 16 February 2006 New Zealand defeated West Indies in a tie-breaking bowl-out 3-0; 126 runs were scored apiece in the game proper. The game was the last international match played by Chris Cairns - NZC handed out life-size cardboard masks of his face to patrons as they entered the ground.

Starting 11 July 2006 19 West Indies regional teams competed in what was named the Stanford 20/20 tournament. The event has been financially backed by billionaire Allen Stanford, who gave at least US$28,000,000 funding money. West Indies legends also backed the programme, and several "looked after" the teams during their stay in and around the purpose built ground in Antigua. It is intended that the tournament will be an annual event. Guyana won the inaugural event, defeating Trinidad and Tobago by 5 wickets. [http://www.cricinfo.com/stanford/content/story/256391.html] The top prize for the winning team was US$1,000,000, but other prizes were given throughout the tournament, such as play of the match (US$10,000) and man of the match (US$25,000). [http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sports/html/20060208T230000-0500_98302_OBS_DATES_FOR_STANFORD_TWENTY___ANNOUNCED.asp]

On 5 January 2007 Queensland Bulls played the New South Wales Blues at The Gabba, Brisbane. A crowd of 11,000 was expected based on pre-match ticket sales. However, an unexpected 16,000 turned up on the day to buy tickets, causing disruption and confusion for surprised Gabba staff as they were forced to throw open gates and grant many fans free entry. Attendance reached 27,653. [http://www.thetwenty20cup.co.uk/db/aus/article.asp?NewsID=1093] [http://cricket.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=38521]

For 1 February 2008's Twenty20 match between Australia and India, the Melbourne Cricket Ground was sold out based on pre-ticket sales and 84,041 [ [http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ausvind/engine/match/291356.html Cricinfo - Only Twenty20 International: Australia v India at Melbourne, Feb 1, 2008 ] ] people attended the match involving the Twenty20 World Champions against the ODI World Champions.

International

Twenty20 International has been played since 2005. To date 16 countries have played the format, including all Test playing nations.

Every two years a ICC World Twenty20 tournament is to take place, the first was during 2007 in South Africa where India defeated Pakistan in the final.

# Australia (17th February, 2005)
# New Zealand (17th February, 2005)
# England (13th June, 2005)
# South Africa (21st October, 2005)
# West Indies (16th February, 2006)
# Sri Lanka (15th June, 2006)
# Pakistan (28th August, 2006)
# Bangladesh (28th November, 2006)
# Zimbabwe (28th November, 2006)
# India (1st December, 2006)
# Kenya (1st September, 2007)
# Scotland (12th September, 2007)
# Netherlands (2 August, 2008)
# Ireland (2 August, 2008)
# Canada (2 August, 2008)
# Bermuda (3 August, 2008)

Domestic

This is a list of the main Twenty20 domestic competitions in each cricketing country.
*England - Twenty20 Cup
*Pakistan - Pakistan Super League
*South Africa - Standard Bank Pro 20 Series
*Sri Lanka - Twenty20 Cup
*Australia - KFC Twenty20 Big Bash
*New Zealand - State Twenty20 Tournament
*West Indies - Stanford 20/20
*India - Indian Cricket League/Indian Premier League
*Kenya - Kenyan Elite Zonal league.

Champions Twenty20 League

On 13 September 2007 the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced it would host a Champions Twenty20 Cricket tournament in October 2008. The tournament would consist of the top two domestic Twenty20 sides from India, England, Australia and South Africa. The prize fund would be £2.5 million with £1 million for the winning team. [cite news
title = India unveils 'champions league'
work = BBC Sport
publisher = bbc.co.uk
date = 2007-09-13
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/other_international/india/6992520.stm
accessdate = 2008-04-27
quote = The new competition is part of the board's answer to the breakaway Indian Cricket League, which is due to take place in October and November.]

Records

These statistics are correct as of 27 June 2008 and include all major cricket level Twenty20 matches.

Most Twenty20 runs:

[http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/content/records/284267.html Full table on Cricinfo]

Most Twenty20 wickets:

[http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/content/records/305211.html Full table on Cricinfo]

Other records

* Highest individual score - flagicon|New Zealand Brendon McCullum (Kolkata) 158* (73) (2008 IPL)
* Highest team total - Cr|Sri Lanka 260/6 (20 overs) (2007 ICC World Twenty20)
* Most sixes in an innings - flagicon|England Graham Napier (Essex) 16 (2008 Twenty20 Cup)
* Most sixes in career - flagicon|Australia David Hussey 63
* Fastest hundred - flagicon|Australia Andrew Symonds (Kent) 34 balls (2004 Twenty20 Cup)
* Fastest fifty - flagicon|India Yuvraj Singh 12 balls (2007 ICC World Twenty20)
* Most hundreds - flagicon|Australia Ian Harvey 3
* Best innings bowling figures - flagicon|Pakistan Sohail Tanvir (Rajasthan) 6/14 (2008 IPL):

[http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/index.html?class=6 Comprehensive database of Twenty20 records on Cricinfo]

* Highest Paid - flagicon|India M.S.Dhoni (Chennai) 5.8 million US dollars (2008 IPL)
* Most runs in one over - flagicon|India Yuvraj Singh 36, 6 balls 6 sixes (2007 ICC World Twenty20)

ee also

* Pro40 - The English One Day Game
* List of Twenty20 International records
* List of Twenty20 International games

References

External links

* [http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/index.html?class=6 Cricinfo – Twenty20 records]
* [http://www.t20clcricket.com Champions Twenty20 League]