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June 2009
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Jrod: Three cheers for the ICC

June 15th, 2009 by Jrod in Twenty20

I have been to three days of the World Twenty20, and I cannot think of a better-organised tournament.

Look at the genius of that name – the World Twenty20. Is it a cup? Is it a trophy? Who knows, but it is that kind of intrigue that gets the punters talking. It is also cost-efficient. Think of all the printing bills they save on by not putting a superfluous word like cup on the end. Especially in a credit crunch.

The opening ceremony had two giant phallic-shaped balloons, and three mumbly guys who you couldn’t hear. I personally couldn’t think of a better opening ceremony.

Then there were the dancers, dressed in Smurf-esque costumes, with a politically correct mix of the sexes and their three main dances. They certainly bring the crowd endless enjoyment. Especially the male dancers – the crowd bubbled with excitement as the men showed them their tasty moves.

The structure of the tournament is brilliant; who could argue with a tournament where a team like Ireland only needs to win one game to make the second round?

Unfortunately there has been some trouble; Stuart Broad’s arm out (as he came into bowl) was a punch to the groin region of the spirit of cricket. It could have torn at the very fabric of the game, but the ICC has put a stop to that before any kiddies were corrupted.

The other major controversy at the tournament has been Gaffergate. The ICC has taped up every aspect of cricket. The Brit Oval is now the Oval; their OCS stand is the Stand. Players’ trousers are taped, the odd shirt and helmet as well. Of course they have run out of tape when it comes to Ian Chappell, but he would probably chewed through it anyway. This is an important part of watching cricket, as the constant advertising at cricket grounds has disturbed me like so many others. Luckily the ICYahooC have put a stop this subtle advertising that made us choose Brit Insurance and employ OCS to do whatever it is OCS do.

There has also been cricket played, and it must have been pretty good because at times I stopped looking at dancers in blue tracksuit pants and massive inflated devices.

I can only hope the ICC officials haven’t spent all their time stopping us looking at non-sanctioned ICC sponsorship, and have watched the magical farce that was the opening game, Ricky’s constantly craned neck, Umar Gul’s deadly swing, Dirty Dirk’s international debut, the awesome ginger O’Brien brothers, India’s failed Russian Roulette batting order, the wonderful oddity that is Aaron Redmond, and the pure magnificence of the Dilshan Dentist shot.

Jrod is an Australian cricket blogger. His site Cricketwithballs.com won last July’s Best of Blogs in TWC

Posted in Twenty20 | 3 Comments »

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