Cricket has suffered a major blow to its credibility in the past fortnight with the Pakistani spot-fixing scandal, but the organisers of the Champions League T20, starting at the Wanderers on Friday, promise they have just the thing to quell the anger of betrayed fans.
According to a press release, there will be “non-stop music, dancers and cheerleaders”.
Oh, and a bit of cricket as well, the type that is geared almost entirely towards batsmen. Don’t worry about all this nonsense about the “balance of the game”; it will be a short slug-fest in which fours and sixes are a dime a dozen. Or maybe that should be millions of dollars a dozen, if those involved in illegal betting have managed to fix the occurrence of boundaries.
The last time the T20 circus was in town, when South Africa hastily hosted the Indian Premier League (IPL) in April-May 2009, there was plenty of talk about shady things going on in the matches, but not necessarily bringing the result into question. Little things — like bowling no-balls at agreed times — that have been at the core of the current crisis engulfing the Pakistan team.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has its own anti-corruption and security unit (Acsu) that deals with these matters. Ascu was not involved in the IPL 2009 as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) felt the $1,2-million fee for its presence was too high.
This time Acsu will have its full-scale Big Brother operation in place, with four security agents present at every game and a similar number attached to every team and at every hotel.
These are the standard measures for any major ICC event but, as the News of the World video so shockingly exposed, those hell-bent on corruption still find a way.
Chennai Super Kings and India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni believes the only solution lies with the players themselves.
“It is crucial to keep the game clean, but personally I think it is up to the individual. You shouldn’t need someone to guide you or restrict you if you are representing your country; you should feel pride in doing that.
“As far as the corruption unit and their functioning are concerned, I think that they are doing a good job. I think that if they become stricter they will start intruding on the privacy of players,” Dhoni said this week.
The tournament comprises 10 of the best T20 teams in the world, with the top three finishers in this year’s IPL joining the domestic finalists from South Africa and Australia, and New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies sending their T20 champions.
The teams are divided into two groups of five, playing a round robin, before the top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage.
A great opportunity
Probably the most charming aspect of the tournament is that it allows someone like journeyman Highveld Lions seamer Cliff Deacon the chance to dismiss legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar in Friday’s opening game between the local team and the Mumbai Indians.
Of course Tendulkar is more likely to go “Oh, cute”, and dispatch the left-armer on to the grass bank.
But it is the chance of bowling to the Indian great in a high-profile tournament, the possibility that he will one day have a great story to tell his grandchildren, that appeals to the competitive nature of Deacon.
“It’s going to be a very big experience for all of us and the thing about cricket is that anyone can come out on top at any given time.
“It’s a great opportunity and it will be a great experience for me; I’ll just do as well as I can and not concentrate on the big names I’m bowling to. This is an international stage and for me, personally, it’s great to play against bigger teams,” Deacon said this week.
The Mumbai Indians boast the likes of Tendulkar, West Indian all-rounders Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, South African batsman JP Duminy, Indian bowling stars Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan and Sri
Lankan paceman Lasith Malinga.
It’s a top-class spread of talent but a defiant Lions captain, Alviro Petersen, is relishing a chance for a David and Goliath-type outcome.
“There’s definitely no pressure on us and it makes me happy when people write us off. No one expects anything from us; we are a young team, but we will play for one another and as a unit. Our team might not have many big names and on paper we are one of the weakest sides, but you don’t play cricket on paper,” he said.
“They obviously have a lot more experience than us, but whether you’ve played 100 Tests or one provincial game, what matters is what you bring on the day. We don’t care about the opposition, but I would think all the pressure is on the Mumbai Indians,” Petersen said.
The Lions beating the Mumbai Indians? Now that would be a turn-up for the bookies.