20/20 - The Future of Cricket Has Arrived

After all the ridiculous mud slinging we were forced to endure over the Australian summer of cricket, the 20/20 competition is exactly what the cricketing world needed to get back on track. It's a fantastic concept which sees the world's best cricketers playing together and against each other. There is nothing more refreshing than seeing Brett Lee thundering down against Mathew Hayden and Harbhajan Singh trying to outwit Sachin Tendulkar.

The only critics of this competition are the power brokers of the game outside India that were too stupid to think of the idea themselves. This competition will be big; in fact it is already big and will be a major annual event in the cricket calendar. If governing councils want to try and stop their best players from playing in the competition then they face real chances of player revolts. Apart from that, why wouldn't you want your best players gaining experience in such a world class competition?

I am a huge fan of 20/20 cricket. It is everything that one day cricket promised to be but never quite achieved. Lots of runs, fast paced action and all in the same time as a football game. I am a purist and test cricket is the greatest sport on the planet, but a shorter version of the game is a necessity. If the masses want fast paced action with loud music and cheerleaders then give them 20/20 and let's scrap the traditional one day format.

Again the real problem is that governing bodies will try and fight against this as change always puts their precious existence under threat. Bureaucracy will always struggle with change especially in conservative western countries that only care about their perceived stronghold on the game. Everyone around the world embraced 20/20 cricket from the start except the Australians. Australia and the Australian supporters had a problem because they weren't the best at it. In a haze of arrogant stupidity, the case put forth was that 20/20 was not a game of skill; was not "real" cricket.

Three cheers for the 20/20 and three cheers to England and now India for getting the game and the concept off the ground. The future of cricket is now in strong hands.

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