Twenty20
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in the United Kingdom for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board in 2003. It is a type of single innings cricket in which each team bats for a maximum of only 20 overs and closely resembles a form of the game which has been popular in English amateur cricket since at least the 1960's.
A Twenty20 game is completed in about three 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 has been very successful. The ECB did not intend that Twenty20 would replace other forms of the county game and these have continued alongside it.
The game has now spread around the cricket world (although in India so far only to a minor extent) and there have also been some Twenty20 internationals, with all Test-playing nations having played at least one game. The inaugural Twenty20 World Championship will be contested in South Africa in 2007.
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[edit] Rules

The Laws of cricket apply to Twenty20 with some exceptions:
- Should a bowler deliver a no ball by overstepping the popping crease, it costs 2 runs and his next delivery is designated a free-hit, from which the batsman can only be dismissed through a run out, as is the case for the original "no ball".
- Bowlers may bowl a maximum of only 4 overs per innings.
- Umpires may award 5-run penalty runs at their discretion if they believe either team is wasting time.
- If the fielding team do not start to bowl their 20th over within 75 minutes, the batting side is credited an extra 6 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 5 fielders can be on the leg side at any time.
- During the first 6 overs, a maximum of 2 fielders can be outside the 30 Yard circle.
- After the first 6 overs, a maximum of 5 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 5 bowlers from each side delivering 2 balls each at an unguarded wicket. If the number of wickets is equal after the first 10 balls per side, the bowling continues and is decided by sudden death.
[edit] Impact
So far, Twenty20 has proved very popular with the public.
On July 15, 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 January 12, 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 February 17, 2005, Australia defeated New Zealand in the first men's full international Twenty20 match, played at Eden Park in Auckland. The first Twenty20 international in England was played between England and Australia at the Rose Bowl in Hampshire on the 13th June 2005.
On January 9, 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 February 16, 2006, New Zealand defeated West Indies in tie-breaking bowl-out 3-0; 126 runs scored apiece.
Starting July 11, 2006, 19 West Indies regional teams competed in what was named the Stanford Twenty20 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.[1] 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).[2]
On January 5, 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.[3][4]
[edit] Twenty20 International Teams
The nations are listed below with the date of each nation's Twenty20 International debut shown in brackets.
- 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)
[edit] Records
[edit] International
- Highest Team Score: Australia – 221 vs England (9th January 2007) [1]
- Highest Winning Margin (Runs): England – 100 vs Australia (13th June 2005)[2]
- Highest Winning Margin (Wickets): South Africa – 10 vs Pakistan (2 February 2007)
- Best Bowling Figures: Paul Collingwood (England) – 22-4 vs Sri Lanka (15th June 2006)[3]
- Highest Individual Score: Ricky Ponting (Australia) – 98 vs New Zealand (17th February 2005)[4]
- Highest Partnership: Graeme Smith & Loots Bosman (1st Wicket, South Africa) – 132 vs Pakistan (2 February 2007)
- Highest Number of Sixes hit: Australia – 14 vs England (9th January 2007)[5]
[edit] Domestic
[edit] Domestic trophy winners
[edit] England (Twenty20 Cup)
- See Twenty20 Cup
[edit] Pakistan (Twenty20 Cup)
- 2004-05: Faisalabad Wolves
- 2005-06: Sialkot Stallions
- 2006-07: Sialkot Stallions
[edit] South Africa (Pro20 Series)
- 2003-04: Goodyear Eagles
- 2004-05: Nashua Titans
- 2005-06: Gestetner Eagles
- 2006-07: Highveld Lions
[edit] Sri Lanka (Twenty20 Cup)
- 2004: Chilaw Marians CC
- 2005-06: Sinhalese SC
[edit] Australia (KFC Twenty20 Big Bash)
[edit] New Zealand State Twenty20 Cricket Tournament
- 2006-07: Auckland defeated Otago by 60 runs
- 2005-06: Canterbury defeated Auckland by 6 wickets
[edit] West Indies (Stanford 20:20)
- 2006: Guyana defeated Trinidad and Tobago by 5 wickets
[edit] List of Men's Twenty20 International games
- The next scheduled matches:
- England v West Indies at The Oval, London on 28 and 29 June 2007.
- The 1st Twenty20 World Championship in September 2007 in South Africa.
The results of various teams are listed below:
Team | Matches | Wins | Losses | NR | Win % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
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5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 60% |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
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4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 25% |
![]() |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
![]() |
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 75% |
![]() |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50% |
![]() |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66% |
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5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 40% |
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1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
![]() |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
[edit] List of Women's Twenty20 International games
No. | Date | Result | Venue |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 August 2004 | ![]() ![]() |
County Ground, Hove |
2 | 2 September 2005 | ![]() ![]() |
County Ground, Taunton |
3 | 5 August 2006 | ![]() ![]() |
County Ground, Derby |
4 | 18 October 2006 | ![]() ![]() (Australia won bowl-out 2-1) |
Allan Border Field, Brisbane |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Cricinfo: http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/275842.html
- ^ http://www.thetwenty20cup.co.uk/db/int/stats/margins.asp
- ^ http://www.thetwenty20cup.co.uk/db/int/stats/bowling.asp
- ^ http://www.thetwenty20cup.co.uk/db/int/stats/batting.asp
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/6240497.stm
[edit] External links
- cricket20
- Cricket Australia - KFC Twenty20 Big Bash
- Twenty20 Cricket in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands
- Twenty20 WC - Unofficial Twenty20 Cricket World Championship website
- Global Twenty20 - A proposal for an international city based Twenty20 Cricket competition
- - Twenty20 in West Indies
- Campaign to Bring Twenty20 to the 2012 Olympics
Forms of cricket | |
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International: Test cricket | One-Day International | Twenty20 | Hong Kong International Cricket Sixes | Women's cricket | |
Other: First-class cricket | Limited overs cricket | List A cricket | Club cricket | |
Variations: Indoor cricket | French cricket | Backyard cricket | Kwik cricket | Catchy Shubby Cricket | Blind cricket | Kilikiti | Short form cricket |