Pizza Ice Cream - The Tale of Twenty20
Coyote February 14, 2010
It is clear just from flicking on the TV to the Australia / West Indies ODI that there is less and less market for ODIs. It isn't that there is anything wrong with the fifty over format - it has worked well for well over thirty years - but that there is simply too much cricket being played. I think that this is because of the three kinds of fans that cricket attracts:
Tragics - Fans who used to be able to go to every game, but now can't afford it.
Purists - Fans who love test matches and dislike the short stuff.
Modernists - Don't have the concentration to sit still for more than an hour - T20 suits them perfectly.
The soloution that the ICC are bandying about is to have two innings Twenty20 games, which just won't fit in with any of the demends the fans have. The Tragics still won't be able to afford a trip to the cricket, the Purists will be appauled and the Modernists still won't last the whole match. So where does that leave us? Square one.
To summarize, I'll tell you all a story about an American businessman. "Everyone likes ice cream and everyone likes pizza. How about pizza flavoured ice cream?" he thought. Needless to say, it failed.
Tragics - Fans who used to be able to go to every game, but now can't afford it.
Purists - Fans who love test matches and dislike the short stuff.
Modernists - Don't have the concentration to sit still for more than an hour - T20 suits them perfectly.
The soloution that the ICC are bandying about is to have two innings Twenty20 games, which just won't fit in with any of the demends the fans have. The Tragics still won't be able to afford a trip to the cricket, the Purists will be appauled and the Modernists still won't last the whole match. So where does that leave us? Square one.
To summarize, I'll tell you all a story about an American businessman. "Everyone likes ice cream and everyone likes pizza. How about pizza flavoured ice cream?" he thought. Needless to say, it failed.
