Twenty20 founder warns of overkill

10 April 2012

The founder of Twenty20 cricket says administrators should be careful not to schedule too much of the 20-over format even though it is popular with players and fans.

Stuart Robertson, who devised the format a decade ago in his role as marketing manager with the England and Wales Cricket Board, said he is not surprised it has proven so attractive to cricket followers.

However he said that Twenty20 should be mostly reserved for domestic competitions in cricket nations, or as a vehicle to take cricket into new markets such as the United States or China.

Robertson, now the corporate director at Hampshire, said there was a risk of Twenty20 overkill.

"Twenty20 was always designed as a game for counties or states or provinces and it was devised to address the declining audiences at domestic level (in county cricket)," he said.

"I don't mind Twenty20s being used as a curtain raiser for an international series, to have one or two to whet the appetite for more cricket coming up, so long as they don't over-do it.

"If nothing else gives there is a risk of there being too much Twenty20."

Robertson was enthused by the capacity for Twenty20 to spread cricket to new markets - something that was underlined when England was beaten by the Netherlands in the opening match of last year's world championships.

"After we got over the shock of our national side being beaten by Holland, I realized that in the future if this is the game to take cricket into new markets such as Holland then it's absolutely brilliant," he said.

The popularity and potential earnings in Twenty20 have already coaxed some players to extend their careers in the Indian Premier League and other T20 competitions even after retiring from international cricket.

"If international players are coming out of their careers a bit prematurely then there would be a bit of an issue with it," he said.

"But if it's guys like (Shane) Warne and (Adam) Gilchrist and (Andrew) Flintoff, who are a bit injury-laden and coming to the end of their careers, and want to keep going in Twenty20 and get a bit of reward then that's fine."

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