Getting to Grips with Twenty20 Cricket

Like it or
not, Twenty20 cricket is fast becoming a popular feature of international
cricket. One of the big talking points is strategy.

T20 is a brand-new short form of limited overs cricket,
where the first team bats for a maximum of 20 overs, and after a 20 minute
break, the second team replies in an action-packed cricket match that lasts just
three hours!

Bowlers are restricted to sending down a maximum of
four overs in their side’s fielding innings, and if they bowl a no-ball (where
the bowler’s front foot lands over the line), the facing batsman is allowed a
free hit from which he can’t be given out (unless he’s run-out).

Punishment for rule-breaking is harsh, and Umpires may
award a 5-run penalty, if they believe a team is wasting time.

So, how do
you approach a fast paced, adrenalin-packed game which is over inside
three-and-half hours?

gsport spoke
to former South African international, Adam Bacher, who shared some great
insights into how one should approach a Twenty20 match.

How do you feel about Twenty20 and the impact it will
have on international cricket?

My personal
feeling is that T20 cricket is the best entertainment game going around. I feel
that if the Americans discovered T20 before baseball that this would be their
national sport. I believe it is far more entertaining and dynamic than baseball
for pure entertainment value.

How did you enjoy playing this shorter version of the
game?

From a
personal playing perspective I found the game to incredibly stressful but
exhilarating to play. It was always impossible to go to sleep early after a
game as the adrenalin was pumping. The reason it is so stressful is that very
rarely did it happen that one could predict the outcome of the game before the
last couple of overs.

Once you
thought you were in control it would only take one good over from the
opposition, either wickets or runs to change result of the game. It is also
incredibly tiring from start to finish.  When fielding you are constantly
running long distances to different fielding positions to help out the captain
who is always under huge time pressure to get the overs in.

There are
many more opportunities for run-outs and the batsman usually try run for
anything. This means fielding skill levels have to be top draw to take
advantage.

What does it take to succeed in this format of the
game?

I believe
that for a team to succeed in this format that your skill level needs to 50%
higher than for the 50 over format. From a batting point of view, you have to
able to put away the bad ball from ball one of your innings to take the
pressure off.

You cannot
afford to be careless either as it is tough to come back from early wickets. I
remember our first game in this format. We thought we could just go out there
and swing, but soon we were 10 for 4 and we had lost our launching pad for the
last few overs. 20 overs is always longer than one thinks and a top batsman
will know how to balance aggression with tactics.

What’s your advice to the bowlers?

From a
bowling point of view, Twenty20 can be cruel, but I do firmly believe that top
bowlers will come through with flying colours. Extra pace always helps as it is
not easy to try and dominate a bowler who has extra pace like Brett Lee, Lasith
Malinga or Makhaya Ntini from ball one. 

Batsman will
try to improvise shots against them and ultimately pay the price. Clever
spinners have also done brilliantly. A guy like Thandi Tshabalala has got rid
of the bigger hitters like Gerald Dros and Justin Kemp by taking risks and
giving the ball a lot of air time when most batsmen think the spinners will try
dart it in. 

But
unfortunately on a certain day any bowler can go for 25 -30 runs in an over.
Just ask me. I was 2 for 2 after two overs and my third over went for 27 when
AB de Villiers clubbed me out the park .Bowlers needs nerves of steel and
utmost confidence in their abilities to perform under this extreme pressure.

How should a captain approach a Twenty20 game with
regards to leadership?

On Captaincy,
I believe that the ability of captain to influence a game through on-field
tactics to be lowest in T20 as compared to 50 over or test cricket. Because of
huge time pressures, captains usually stick to strategies determined before the
game.

There is so
much to think about with regards to field placing and time pressures that there
is no room to take time to ponder decisions. I think it is probably more like
rugby and soccer where analysis and input should be given by a technical
committee in the team with regards to the best strategy to go with before the
game.

Once the game
starts it is up to the players to deliver in their roles and for them to
clearly understand what their roles are. Each player has to captain
himself/herself on the field whether it is batting bowling or fielding. A
successful team will be the one where the individual players are able to sum-up
the situations quicker than the other team.