Preview - Twenty 20 Cricket World Cup
This year sees the first ever Twenty 20 cricket World Cup. The latest version of the ancient game of cricket is aimed at attracting a younger audience and the World Cup will see 12 national teams competing.
Twenty 20 was first introduced in England as a means of getting more people to attend cricket matches. The matches were much shorter than other forms of the game and were aimed squarely at families and younger generations.
The format has largely been viewed as a success, attracting large crowds and a greater number of cricket enthusiasts.
Later this year, South Africa will host the inaugural Twenty 20 World Cup. The participating nations are South Africa, the West Indies, Bangladesh, Kenya, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Scotland, India, Australia, Zimbabwe and England.
Predicting how each of the teams will perform in the competition is not easy - being the first of its kind means that many of the countries won't have much of a track record.
Many believe that Australia will be the team to beat. The Aussies are the undoubted kings of Test and One Day cricket, leading the rankings in both forms of the game.
The One Day World Cup, held in the West Indies early in 2007, also saw strong performances from Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa. As hosts here, the South Africans will be looking to do well in the Twenty 20 version of the World Cup.
England, the birthplace of the game, will look to do well, though may be hampered by having to face Australia early in the competition.
From a financial perspective, the two major Asian cricketing powers (India and Pakistan) will need to do well if the tournament is to be judged a success.
The world waits to see who will emerge as the world champions.
Author: Keith Barrett
To find out more about cricket and playing it, visit the cricket gloves website and check out Keith Barrett's other cricketing articles. This article may be used by any website publisher, though this resource box must always be included in full.
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