On your marks…

…get set, go! Domestic Twenty20 cricket is once again upon us in the shape of the Indian Premier League, with the first six scheduled for some time tomorrow! World class cricketers, Bollywood stars and more; the IPL continues to demonstrate how cricket can continue on its path to becoming global phenomenon with the twenty-overs-a-side brand.

Live sport is developing in to more than just a contest between two teams. It is now an experience, a day out full of varied entertainment and high quality. Twenty20 is three to four hours of fast, intense and high impact cricket. Runs, wickets, fours, sixes, music, dancing, fireworks, skill, pressure and many, many more adjectives demonstrate the nature of the shortened format. Batsmen have learnt to hit the ball harder and further than ever before. Bowlers have learnt to bowl different deliveries to counter the hard hitting batsmen. The batters then adjust themselves by developing flicks and scoops and reverse sweeps and switch hits, making the bowler refine the trade even more. Twenty20 has enhanced the development of all forms of cricket. Kevin Pietersen has used a switch hit in Test cricket. Evolution and development!

The IPL is also about money. Funded by wealthy business and Bollywood stars, the IPL franchises attract the best limited overs players in the world who are looking to not only improve their current skill set and play alongside other world greats, but secure themselves financially in the long term. Who wouldn’t want to take advantage of the money that is on offer? Many players now only play the shortened form of the game. Andrew Flintoff recently became a “freelance cricketer”, meaning he can play for who he wants to in the shortened formats and take advantage of the cash available. He is after all a family man, with a limited time left in the game, and having achieved two Ashes series wins, the time has come where the body can no longer live up to the rigours of Test cricket, and he is looking to cash in on the riches on offer. Shane Warne, a global star like Flintoff, only plays Twenty20 cricket now.

These riches don’t just come to any player though. If a player wants to earn the big bucks, he needs to have proved himself on the world stage already. The player needs to be marketable to draw in the crowds, and that is gained through success in International cricket. And success and money can come out of nowhere. Eoin Morgan of England has barely arrived on the international scene, but a number of impressive displays have led to a big money offer for him to join an IPL franchise. Of course to play in a competition that is broadcast around the world, with and against some of the best players around is beyond the dreams of some, but it doesn’t end there. Remember Ravi Bopara? After having a successful couple of months involving Test cricket and the IPL, Bopara was unceremoniously dropped from the England side during the Ashes for a string of failures with the bat, and he hasn’t been got his place back. A vital lesson for Eoin Morgan: this is just the start! There is always the example of Stuart Broad, who after breaking in to the England team was offered the chance of putting himself forward for the IPL auction, which he subsequently turned down so that he could train harder and continue to work on his game. There is no defined right or wrong way to do things, but what will hurt Bopara more? Not playing Test cricket, or not playing in the IPL?

One massive positive to come from the IPL this year is that it will be shown on free-to-air television in the UK on ITV4, and all the matches will be streamed live on YouTube. With a lot of controversy surrounding the lack of cricket on free-to-air television, this is a welcome change, take note ECB, and hopefully the IPL and the entertaining brand of cricket that it provides and the presence of many household names, including Tendulkar, Gilchrist, Warne, Gayle, Pietersen, and many more, can maintain the interest in cricket that there is here in the UK amongst those who do not have access to Sky, and even help with the outreach of cricket to new followers.

Test cricket still has, and in my opinion always will have, its place as the pinnacle of the game, but Twenty20 cricket is the key to that remaining the pinnacle in the future. Test cricket will continue to evolve and retain its supporter base because of the new customers Twenty20 will attract. Test cricket will be maintained because of Twenty20, but never be replaced by it. No matter how many new competitions can be won or how much money can be achieved through playing Twenty20 cricket, playing in the hardest, most gruelling and testing of conditions and circumstances over a five day period will always remain the ultimate desire, and this is what any cricketer will affirm.