Twenty20 cricket was branded as “fun” when it was launched as a professional sport in England six years ago. 

But as the blame game started over who was responsible for the decision to call-off Tuesday’s Twenty20 international between England and Australia without a ball being bowled, one thing was clear: top players are not prepared to take any chances with conditions just to entertain a capacity crowd.

Twenty20 cricket has gone from ‘hit and giggle’ to a lucrative business thanks to the advent of the Indian Premier League and the World Twenty20.

Tuesday’s match was abandoned primarily because a two-metre square area damp patch on the line of the bowlers’ run-ups at the Brian Statham End was ruled unsafe by the umpires.

Former Australia fast bowler Jeff Thomson labelled the players “soft”.

But with Australia’s attack set to have featured Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Dirk Nannes, all of whom can bowl at over 90mph, captain Michael Clarke was in no mood to take risks.

“I’m 75 kilos and for me to put my foot on that was very unstable so I can’t imagine (England’s Ryan) Sidebottom, Lee and Johnson – bigger boys than me – running into bowl on that,” he said.

“There’s no game I play for Australia that I’m willing to just go out and bowl some full-tosses so the crowd get a great spectacle,” Clarke added.

After the match the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced they would hold an inquiry, with Lancashire facing questions as to why an international match was abandoned because a small area of the outfield was wet.

Although 600,000 pounds was spent on a new drainage system in the pre-season, it did not cover the run-up area as the square at Old Trafford is to be turned next year, when the new drains in that section of the ground will be installed.

Angry Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes insisted inadequate covering and drainage were not behind the abandonment, which came after Sunday’s first Twenty20, also at Old Trafford, was also washed out.

“I’m perfectly aware of the safety of players, I played the game for 20 years myself,” former Lancashire seamer Cumbes said.

“But there are times when you’ve got to think about the people who’ve paid 50 quid (pounds).

“Sometimes I think we’d rather play in front of empty stadiums,” he added after the crowd reacted with impressive restraint to the lack of cricket.

Tuesday’s was the third embarrassing abandonment England have been involved in this year.

Three months ago a One-Day International (ODI) against the West Indies at Headingley was abandoned in bright sunshine without a ball bowled because a new drainage system couldn’t cope with a downpour.

That in turn followed the abandonment of this year’s Antigua Test on England’s Caribbean tour because of an unfit outfield.

On Friday, England and Australia are set to play the first of seven ODIs at the Oval, where in 1977 they took part in an extraordinary limited-overs match.

Back then, play continued despite rain and then hail lashing the ground and Australia captain Greg Chappell saw his side to a two-wicket victory with a superb 125 not out.

Although there was a reserve day, that clashed with a public holiday for the celebration of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, monarch of both Britain and Australia.

And that meant there would be no television coverage if the game went into a second day.

“I realised the best chance of winning was to get off and start again the next day,” Chappell said. “But I played on for the sponsors’ sake.”

David Frith, writing in the Cricketer magazine, said: “As for the bemused spectators, they were left to reflect that in the days ahead first-class cricketers, far from splashing about willingly, would not be prepared to emerge if there was the smallest spot of rain in the air.”

More often than not, it seems, they still aren’t.

Two cricketers from Gujarat, Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja on Tuesday joined the Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) as executives (Sports and Culture) at a ceremony organised by the company.

Both Yusuf and Jadeja were inducted into the company by its group president (corporate affairs) Parimal Nathwani.

“Yusuf and Ravindra need no introduction. Yusuf belongs to Vadodara and Ravindra hails from Jamnagar. Both towns have history and legacy of cricket,” Nathwani said.

“We all see a great cricketing potential and future in Pathan and Jadeja. They are colleagues at Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and now they become colleagues at Reliance. They become our executives (Sports and Culture) and join the roll with Parthiv Patel,” he said.

Wicket-keeper Patel was the first cricketer to join RIL rolls on June 25, 2004.

The Indian Premier League will not be given a permanent slot in the international cricket calendar, the ICC said on Tuesday.

Many top cricketers had to sit out of IPL due to their national commitments which has prompted calls for granting the cash-rich Twenty20 event a permanent window in the ICC calendar.

But the game’s governing body is not considering any such proposal at the moment.

“No we are not considering giving a window to IPL. Mr Lalit Modi (IPL commissioner) has frequently said that a window for IPL is not appropriate and I agree with him,” ICC President David Morgan said in a telephonic interview from London.

Asked whether this could lead to players opting out of bilateral tours to take part in the IPL, Morgan said it would only happen in the case of those on the brink of retirement.

“I think some cricketers who are coming to the end of their career will opt to play in domestic leagues like IPL. But I believe established international cricketers will want to play international cricket,” he said.

The Twenty20 boom has cast a shadow on the future of Test cricket, which was in any case losing popularity with spectators.

Morgan said ICC has plans to revitalise the longest version of the sport and reducing Test matches to four days was one of the options.

“I believe that Test cricket is very interesting product but there have been some matches that have been played in front of very poor crowd. The matches have been draws almost from day two forward and that is often due to the pitch not giving a fair balance between ball and bat,” he said.

“But having said that, there has been some great Test matches in recent times. They have been played over four or five days. The Ashes Test in Birmingham was one of the greatest of all times and that finished in three days and one session.

“We look at Test cricket as prime product and we look at the possibility of four days rather than five. We concern ourselves with quality of pitches and also overrate, because we have to be ever conscious of the need of the paying public,” he added.

Asked whether the ICC would consider a two-tier structure for Tests, Morgan said such a system was already in place.

“To some extent, that happens currently, doesn’t it? Because in a six-year cycle, some nations play each other home-and-away every four years as opposed to six years. They play five-match Test match series as opposed to three-match Test series. So there already is an element of stronger teams playing each other more frequently,” he said.

Morgan did not foresee any such threat to one-day cricket, which he said was the cash-provider for the other formats.

“The 50-overs game has been the cash-provider for other forms of cricket over a long period of time and I believe there is a continuing future for 50-over cricket. We have introduced the batting powerplays and I believe that is a quite bold change and that would definitely add interest to the game,” he said.

The ever-increasing cricket has raised concerns about the players’ fitness and whether they can cope with playing almost non-stop through the year.

Morgan said the it was upto the member boards to decide the quantity of matches.

“It’s not ICC which determines the volume of cricket, member boards do. But it’s important that players have time to practise, to rest and to recharge their batteries,” he said.

Players’ behaviour has also become a concern with some ugly on-field spats in the past few years but Morgan insisted that a bit of banter doesn’t harm anyone.

“I think players behaviour in the Twenty20 World Cup was fantastic. The games were played in wonderful spirit. I believe that cricketers at the highest level always want to have conversation and I don’t see any harm in that.

“But for us, spirit of cricket is very important. I think the players are increasingly more and more aware of the need to play the game in the right spirit,” he said.

“I also believe the referral system that is being rolled out will improve player behaviour,” he added.

Shiv Sena on Thursday staged demonstrations outside the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), warning the cricket body of “dire consequences” if it cancels Deodhar trophy tournament.

“BCCI has planned Indian Premier League (IPL) matches in Maharashtra at the cost of Deodhar trophy tournament. The Board has insulted Marathi pride by cancelling the tournament named after Prof D B Deodhar,” Sena leader Subhash Desai said.

“We have given a statement to chief administrative officer of the BCCI, Ratnakar Shetty, condemning the decision,” Desai said.

Shetty assured the Sena delegation that the tournament would be held. However, if the trophy is cancelled, “Shiv Sena will not allow a single IPL match to take place in the state”, Desai warned.

Four IPL officials, including Commissioner and Chairman Lalit Modi, are set to leave for England on Monday, sources said on Sunday. 

“Modi, Sundar Raman (IPL CEO), Dheeraj Malhotra (IPL Tournament Director) and one more person are going to London on Monday,” they said.

The IPL officials are expected to hold discussions with officials of the England and the Wales Cricket Board for holding IPL’s second edition in England following the Cricket Board’s decision earlier on Sunday to hold the high-profile Twenty20 tournament overseas.

England and South Africa are being touted as the likely venues for the cash-rich event which was shifted outside India following the non-clearance of its schedule by the Union Government.

The IPL will be held from April 10 to May 24 and Modi has announced that the host country and the full schedule will be declared by Monday evening.

A decision on whether the Indian Premier League (IPL) can go ahead with a revised schedule would be taken after the central government discusses the matter with the host states and the Election Commission.

The IPL organisers have conveyed to the Home Ministry that they do not require any central forces for the security.

“The Ministry of Home Affairs passed on the new schedule to the states yesterday itself and is waiting for their response as to whether they need para-military forces for matches or not,” Special Secretary (Internal Security) Raman Srivastava said in New Delhi on Thursday.

The new schedule starts from April 10 and ends on May 24, he said. Raman revealed that after receiving the response from the state governments, the Home Ministry will go to the Election Commission informing them about the security arrangements.

The states where the IPL matches are scheduled to be held are Delhi, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

He said the BCCI has written a letter to Home Minister P Chidambaram saying that they “do not require central para-military forces and can do with state police and they have given a new schedule yesterday avoiding election dates.”

Though Srivastava refused to comment about the fate of the IPL tournament, sources in the Home Ministry said a company (100 personnel) could be spared for security during the matches.

The Home Ministry had earlier said that providing security for the league during the time of general elections would be difficult due to shortage of paramilitary forces and the time it is likely to take for deploying them for election duty.

The security agencies are themselves unwilling to stretch for the league and have told the government to press for a postponement of the high-profile event.

The terror attack on the Sri Lankan team on Tuesday in Lahore has also compounded the problems for the IPL organisers, who now expect pullouts by many of the foreign players.

Federation of International Cricketers Association chief executive Tim May has already sought a wider role in assessing the security for players during the IPL.

In case the organisers are forced to postpone the IPL, it would be difficult to find a slot to hold the event this year in view of the crammed cricket calendar. It would then have to be held around the same period next year.

The IPL has sent a revised tournament schedule to the Indian government and is awaiting a response that it hopes will lead to an early decision on the league’s second edition. Under the revised list, the matches will be held within the original April 10-May 24 window but will no longer clash with the election dates in India. It leaves a minimum gap of up to 48 hours – six to seven days, in some cases – before and after the election dates at any specific venue.

India’s home ministry, which has suggested the tournament be held after the elections, will now sound out individual state administrations at the nine IPL venues for feedback and suggestions before reverting to league officials.

“We are confident but there is still some way to go before we can be 100% sure,” a senior member of the IPL’s governing council said. “There are no specific meetings scheduled but discussions have already been initiated with the government at various levels.”

IPL officials are bracing for negotiations with the government and the governing council member said they have alternative plans to take the league forward. “We could have the tournament in two legs at some venues and, in one case, there is a clear possibility of wrapping up the matches before the election date [at that venue],” the official said.

A worst-case scenario, he said, was for the IPL to be cut from its current 44-day schedule to around 30 days.

Government officials, however, believe the key to the situation lies with the state administrations who will handle on-ground security for the IPL matches. “If state officials at the host cities say they have a problem, we are back to square one again,” a home ministry official said. “There could also be a problem if they demand more central forces at a time when the general elections are on. The Lahore attack has taken threat perceptions everywhere to a different level.”

To put things in perspective, the India-England Test in Chennai last December, when England were promised the tightest security cover possible after the Mumbai attacks, was covered by 1500 local police officials and 150 central paramilitary personnel.

In the IPL’s case, police officials in Kolkata have already indicated that they may not be in a position to provide security at Eden Gardens during elections. “The Knight Riders’ match on May 13 clashes with polling day in Kolkata,” Gautam Chakraborty, the city police commissioner, said. “Also, there are two matches between April 30 and May 7 (which are polling days). It doesn’t matter that polls on these days will be conducted outside Kolkata. City police personnel are also deployed in the districts during polls.”

IS Bindra, a member of the IPL’s governing council and the ICC’s principal adviser, has admitted the IPL will have to accommodate the government’s concerns. “If the state administrations tell us they cannot handle the security, there is no way we can go ahead,” Bindra told the Hindustan Times. “But I’m sure it won’t come to that.”

Indian Premier League bosses battled to save their multi-million-dollar tournament on Wednesday after a government call for it to be postponed for security reasons.

In the wake of Tuesday’s deadly assault on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan, questions are also being asked about whether the top world players signed up by the IPL will be prepared to play in South Asia.

The Mumbai siege in late November dealt a massive blow to India’s security image, and fears over safety across the region will have been exacerbated by the gun and grenade attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore.

Home minister P. Chidambaram said Tuesday said he would be “stretched” to provide adequate security to the popular Twenty20 tournament, as it clashes with general elections in April and May.

“Since the election dates are unalterable, I have asked to find out if the dates of the IPL can be rescheduled,” Chidambaram told reporters.

“I would be happy if the tournament starts when the bulk of the polls is over.”

The IPL is due to be played across 10 cities in India from April 10 to May 24. The parliamentary elections will be held in five phases between April 16 and May 13.

Chidambaram’s comments came hours after the attack on the Sri Lankan team which injured seven players and an assistant coach and killed eight Pakistanis — six of them policemen escorting their convoy to the stadium.

IPL officials insisted the tournament will not be postponed, citing a lack of alternative dates in an already crowded calendar, but agreed to adjustments so matches do not clash with voting in a particular city.

“There is no chance of postponing the IPL,” tournament commissioner Lalit Modi told Indian media.

“We have taken into account government sensibilities, but I am sure even the Home Minister would not want the whole country to come to a standstill during the elections.”

Home ministry officials are expected to meet IPL bosses over the next few days to resolve the matter, although reports say the government is determined to see the 59-match tournament postponed.

There are also concerns on whether international players will be willing to set foot on the sub-continent following the Lahore attack.

The biggest draw this year would be the first IPL appearance for England stars Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, who were signed for a record 1.55 million dollars each per year.

The Mumbai attacks last November has already forced the postponement by a year of the IPL-backed Champions League, featuring the top Twenty20 teams from Australia, South Africa, England, Pakistan and India.

“If I were one of the England guys who signed up for the Indian Premier League, I would be concerned,” former England coach Duncan Fletcher wrote in the Guardian newspaper.

“The attacks in Mumbai called into question even the safety of the best hotels. What cricketer is going to start thinking about runs and wickets when there are these more serious matters to consider?”

Former England captain Mike Atherton, however, told The Times he hoped the IPL would go ahead.

“If cricket in India takes a blow, then it’s almost the end of cricket as a truly international sport — it becomes an enclave of a few countries here and there.

“It’s vitally important it continues to be played on the sub-continent.”

Although IPL officials insist that international players will turn up, one official from a top team conceded the tournament could not go ahead without the support of the government and its security agencies.

“No one wants to take a chance in these difficult times,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. “One mad person could ruin everything.”

Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who was contracted with Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan’s Kolkata Knightriders, has already pulled out of this year’s IPL, citing commitments for his country.

Shah Rukh Khan-promoted Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has tied up with soft drinks major Coca Cola for sponsorship during the coming IPL, days after the actor was dumped by rival beverage player PepsiCo as its brand ambassador.

“We are happy to announce that we have tied up with Coca Cola for (a) sponsorship deal for the IPL, which will include using the company’s logo as well as promoting their brand,” KKR Director Joy Bhattacharya told media.

He said the contract is especially for the IPL season and Coca Cola’s sparkling drink brand ‘Sprite’ would be promoted as part of the campaign.

Bhattacharya, however, refused to share any more details regarding the deal, including size of the contract.

Coca Cola refused to comment on the development. Coke’s deal with KKR comes on the heels of PepsiCo terminating its contract with Khan, who was the longest serving brand ambassador for the company.

PepsiCo had, however, said it is “currently in discussions with him to take the relationship to a new phase”.

Defending Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Rajasthan Royals have roped in young fast bowler Kamran Khan for the second season of the lucrative league.

Darren Berry, Rajasthan’s director of coaching spotted the left-arm fast bowler during a local Twenty20 tournament in Mumbai. Kamran, 18, is still to play first-class cricket.

He now finds himself with a Rs 12 lakh (approximately $24,000) contract with Rajasthan. “I can’t express how happy I am. I knew I would play for a big team one day, but I never thought it would come so early,” Kamran told Mid Day.