Sideshow To Money-spinner: The Rise And Rise Of Twenty20 Cricket

Sydney, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Oct, 2022 ) :In barely 20 years, Twenty20 cricket has gone from being a light-hearted sideshow to a money-spinning, central plank of the sport's global Calendar.

With the eighth T20 World Cup starting in Australia on Sunday, Sport looks at the rise and rise of the game's big-hitting, crowd-pleasing format.

- The beginning - The end of the Benson and Hedges Cup one-day competition in 2002, due to a ban on tobacco advertising, left a gap in English cricket's domestic calendar.

Stuart Robertson, the marketing manager of the England and Wales Cricket board, proposed a 20-overs-per-side event, a format already known in amateur and junior cricket.

The aim was to attract a younger audience who might not have the time to engage with longer formats.

The first official Twenty20 county matches took place in 2003 and proved an instant success in terms of attracting crowds.