Tuesday, 26 Nov 2024

History of T20

Here is the History of T20 Cricket,

Origins

When the Benson & Hedges Cup ended in 2002, the ECB needed another one-day competition to fill its place. Cricketing authorities were looking to boost the game’s popularity with the younger generation in response to dwindling crowds and reduced sponsorship. It was intended to deliver fast-paced, exciting cricket accessible to thousands of fans who were put off by the longer versions of the game. Stuart Robertson, the marketing manager of the ECB, proposed a 20 over per innings game to county chairmen in 2001 and they voted 11–7 in favor of adopting the new format.

The first official Twenty20 matches were played on 13 June 2003 between the English counties in the Twenty20 Cup. The first season of Twenty20 in England was a relative success, with the Surrey Lions defeating the Warwickshire Bears by 9 wickets in the final to claim the title. The first Twenty20 match held at Lord’s, on 15 July 2004 between Middlesex and Surrey, attracted a crowd of 27,509, the highest attendance for any county cricket game at the ground – other than a one-day final – since 1953.

Spread worldwide

Thirteen teams from different parts of the country participated in Pakistan’s inaugural competition in 2004, with Faisalabad Wolves the first winners. On 12 January 2005, Australia’s first Twenty20 game was played at the WACA Ground between the Western Warriors and the Victorian Bushrangers. It drew a sell-out crowd of 20,000, which was the first time in nearly 25 years the ground had been completely sold out and in Indian Premier League 2008 CSK vs KKR match played. The Attendance of the match was close to 100,000 at Eden Garden Stadium.

Starting 11 July 2006 19 West Indies regional teams competed in what was named the Stanford 20/20 tournament. The event was financially backed by billionaire Allen Stanford, who gave at least US$28,000,000 in funding money. It was intended that the tournament would be an annual event. Guyana won the inaugural event, defeating Trinidad and Tobago by 5 wickets, securing US$1,000,000 in prize money.

On 5 January 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.

For 1 February 2008 Twenty20 match between Australia and India, 85,824 people attended the match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground involving the Twenty20 World Champions against the ODI World Champions.

The Stanford Super Series was held in October 2008 between Middlesex and Trinidad and Tobago., the respective winners of the English and Caribbean Twenty20 competitions, and a Stanford Superstars team formed from West Indies domestic players; Trinidad and Tobago won the competition, securing US$280,000 prize money. On 1 November, the Stanford Superstars played England in what was expected to be the first of five fixtures in as many years with the winner claiming US$20,000,000 in each match. The Stanford Superstars won the first match, however, no further fixtures were held as Allen Stanford was charged with fraud in 2009.

20–20 Internationals

On 17 February 2005 Australia defeated New Zealand in the first men’s full international Twenty20 match, played at Eden Park in Auckland. The game was played in a light-hearted manner – both sides turned out in kits similar to that worn in the 1980s. the New Zealand team’s a direct copy of that worn by the Beige Brigade.

Some of the players also sported mustaches/beards and hairstyles popular in the 1980s taking part in a competition amongst themselves for the best retro look, at the request of the Beige Brigade. Australia won the game comprehensively, and as the result became obvious towards the end of the NZ innings. The players and umpires took things less seriously – Glenn McGrath jokingly replayed the Trevor Chappell underarm incident from a 1981 ODI between the two sides, and Billy Bowden showed him a mock red card (red cards are not normally used in cricket) in response.

The first Twenty20 international in England was played between England and Australia at the Rose Bowl in Hampshire on 13 June 2005. England won by a margin of 100 runs, a record victory that lasted until 2007.

On 9 January 2006 Australia and South Africa met in the first international Twenty20 game in Australia. At 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 Gabba. Australia convincingly won the match with the man of the match Damien Martyn scoring 96 runs.

On 16 February 2006, New Zealand defeated West Indies in a tie-breaking bowl-out 3–0; 126 runs were scored apiece in the game proper. The game was the last international match played by Chris Cairns – NZC handed out life-size cardboard masks of his face to patrons as they entered the ground.

ICC WT20

Every two years an ICC World Twenty20 tournament is to take place, except in the event of an ICC Cricket World Cup being scheduled in the same year, in which case it will be held the year before. The first tournament was in 2007 in South Africa where India defeated Pakistan in the final. Two Associate teams had played in the first tournament, selected through the 2007 ICC World Cricket League Division One, a 50-over competition.

In December 2007 it was decided to hold a qualifying tournament with a 20-over format to better prepare the teams. With six participants, two would qualify for the 2009 World Twenty20 and would each receive $250,000 in prize money. The second tournament was won by Pakistan who beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in England on 21 June 2009. The 2010 ICC World Twenty20 tournament was held in West Indies in May 2010, where England defeated Australia by 7 wickets. The 2012 ICC World Twenty20 was won by the West Indies, by defeating Sri Lanka at the finals.

It was the first time in Cricket history that a T20 World Cup tournament took place in an Asian country. The 2014 ICC World Twenty20 was won by Sri Lanka, by defeating India at the finals, where the tournament was held in Bangladesh. The 2016 ICC World Twenty20 was won by West Indies, by defeating England at the finals, where the tournament was held in India.

Major Twenty20 Domestic Leagues:

With this rich history of Twenty20, most of the cricketing nations set their own leagues. Which Includes