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Edward Craig: CLT20 – the Last Post

October 23rd, 2009 by Edward Craig in Champions League, County cricket, IPL, Twenty20

Whether it’s hit your radar or not, this Champions League is going to have an impact. Here’s an instant verdict:

The Good
-    The noise, the colour, the atmosphere, the fireworks, the cheerleaders, the DJ. The games as an event and night out. When you are at the ground, if you can’t love it, you must be dead.
-    Trinidad and Tobago’s cricket – gave the world a reminder of just how West Indians can play.
-    New South Wales – ruthless, slick, would give many national sides a stiff test.
-    The superover – pure drama and a fantastic way to resolve a tie.
-    The fielding, including at least three over-the-line-in-mid-air-but-threw-it-back-in moments.
-    Daren Ganga. Next prime minister of Trinidad. He’s going to become very important.
-    The Indian crowd who actually turned up and shouted more than the impression given by the press. The final was immense.
-    The free-hit noise the DJ played – the warning alarm of a sinking submarine.
-    Lalit Modi – hate to say this but he made it all happen.
-    County cricket looked exposed and this could be the kick it needs to start a revolution.

The Bad
-    The IPL and English sides – none made it to the semi-final and none deserved to.
-    The television coverage (certainly in India), which makes you realise how lucky we are in the UK. Advertisements and commentators that don’t translate well for the British.
-    Alan Wilkins.
-    The security that started out officious and ended up ridiculously relaxed, even after a bomb scare.
-    A bomb scare at Bangalore.
-    Andrew Symonds – looked every inch the ex-international player he is.
-    Somerset’s batting and Englishmen’s ability to hit sixes.
-    Peter Siddle’s diary – he’s been on the road for five months and is in the squad for the Australia-India ODIs. Player burn-out?
-    The coverage in the UK: this is a big event, it’s going to have an impact, even if it got little exposure.
-    Bloody Aussies won again …
-    County cricket looked exposed and there’s no sign that anything is going to change. Ever.

The Weird
-    The over-hyped All-Star side, that seemed to make no sense and have little point.
-    Lalit Modi being treated like a rock-star.
-    Dave Mohammed’s wicket celebrations.
-    One of the tournament’s theme tunes that had a booming synthesized voice singing: “Brian Close.”
-    This press release about viewing figures: “The tournament has been garnering strong viewership across all markets in India, a fact mirrored in the 37 million Indians that have been glued on to their televisions.”
-    Victoria batting for a draw against Wayamba; Cape Cobras wanting to lose to Delhi Daredevils.
-    That Somerset got so far in Twenty20 this year. They were only here on the back of a solitary win: they came third in their group stage last summer, won the quarter-final in a bowl-out at Lancashire – beat Kent in the semi-final (the solitary win) and were thumped by Sussex in the final. They fluked their way to the latter half of this event thanks to other results. Sussex were a far superior side. Not Somerset’s fault, just one of those things.
-    The Indian journalist’s obsession with James Kirtley; special TWC prize for the first commenter to guess why.

That’s enough of that. Thanks for reading. I’m now off to the after-party. Apparently there are some cheerleaders to interview …

Edward Craig is deputy editor of The Wisden Cricketer

Posted in Champions League, County cricket, IPL, Twenty20 |



6 Responses to “Edward Craig: CLT20 – the Last Post”

  1.   jrod says:

    This Ed bloke was ok, but next year you should send over David Frith to interview the cheerleaders.

  2.   kiwi says:

    I am sad it is all over-it provided good entertainment

  3.   steve says:

    God, it’s hardly over and we (Aussies) are already into the next circus!

    It’s bad enough for the players - it seems like Siddle has been on the road for years - but at least they get payed for it.

    Who pays me to keep up with it all?

  4.   Winsome says:

    Peter Siddle has played so much cricket now for Oz in such a short time. It’s crazy. He is on a real treadmill.

    I am sure they are looking after him, but he is injury prone so how can he keep playing all formats?

    As for Mitch, cricket must just be a blur for him.

  5.   Richie C says:

    Kiwi- I bet you were sad that there were no New Zealand teams in the tournament!

  6.   Vivian says:

    Kiwi is always chatting but he never seems to understand the irony of his name. Reasonable blog coverage though, have enjoyed the majority

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