The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Twenty20 World Cup formally launched

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Friday, Jul 27, 2007
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Twenty20 World Cup formally launched

Nandita Sridhar

The total prize money is $1.9 million
Matches to be held at three venues

Johannesburg: Cricket’s shortest version will get its biggest stage this September, when the ICC Twenty20 World Cup will take place in South Africa, from September 11 to 24.

The formal launch of the inaugural championship took place at The Dome on Thursday, where ICC president Ray Mali, ICC cricket manager Dave Richardson, tournament director Steve Elworthy, Cricket South Africa president Norman Arendse and South African cricket team members including captain Graeme Smith spoke on the tournament.

The colourful ceremony, hosted by former Zimbabwe cricketer Pommie Mbangwa highlighted the growing audience of Twenty20 cricket, the importance of a successful championship for cricket and South Africa, and the role it could play in luring non-traditional cricket watchers into watching Tests and ODIs.

A stage to perform

“The format is such that it gives an opportunity for cricketers to show people how good they are. They will be able to play with more freedom and less inhibitions, and express themselves better,” said Richardson.

The total prize money for the tournament will be $1.9 million.

“It is an honour for Cricket South Africa to host the event, and showcases the ICC’s confidence in South Africa’s ability to host the tournament,” said Arendse. He added that the tournament would be held in memory of the deceased former ICC president Percy Sonn.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith said that cricket had to compete with other forms of entertainment, which is why the success of the tournament would be crucial for the globalisation plans of the ICC.

Suits youngsters

On the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid from the tournament, he said, “this is a format more suited to the youngsters, and they’ve given their reasons for pulling out. Twenty20 requires athleticism and is an opportunity for youngsters to do well, but despite the absence of some senior players, the tournament will have enough big stars. The Australians, for example, have announced their World Cup winning squad for this event.” Elworthy highlighted the logistics involved with hosting such a tournament, which would run on a choc-a-bloc schedule.

“We started preparations more than ten months ago in putting a structure together, taking into consideration the amount of travel involved for the players and the ticketing requirements of the spectators, who will get to watch more than one match a day,” he said.

The matches will take place at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, Kingsmead in Durban and Newlands in Cape Town.

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