ICC World T20 preparations exactly on track – grounds and fixtures to follow

1. We can’t give away our sources, but we’ve heard that Cameroon will be playing the Czech Republic in Madurai on March 1st.

2. I’m very excited about all of this. The logo even looks a bit like a heart which has exploded from all the anticipation of the impending excitement.

   Just so we’re clear, though, calling it theTwenty20 or T20 World Cup is wrong, according to wikipedia. It’s not a World Cup, is what I’m taking from this.

   So what’s the official stance around here – does it matter?

3. It’s not the first time this has happened. In 1996 we were scheduled to play a match at Bickershaw CC in the Wigan and District Evening Trades League. It was against the Law Society, as I recall, and we fancied our chances. Lawyers might be overpaid and pedantic, but that doesn’t necessarily make you a good cricketer. So we turned up in good time for our usual pre-match sit around waiting.

   But nobody had told the groundsman!

   The pitch was being watered and was soaking wet. As you might imagine – there was consternation all round. This match was ON the fixtures list, and had been for some weeks. Rescheduling was out of the question, as permission for an evening’s cricket isn’t a straightforward matter. Fortunately, one of the lawyers played at Golborne CC. A quick phone call and a ten minute drive, and there we were, playing cricket when all had seemed lost.

   I can’t see any reason why something similar shouldn’t happen in India. It’s not like they’re short of grounds or anything. So even if they’ve forgotten to tell the groundsman that they’ve a match on, I’m sure there’ll be an alternative pitch in the locality that they can use.

   And yes, we did win. My mate Ian Maiden got the winning runs with a straight six. Equally memorable was the fact that Nigel Short’s brother was playing for the Law Society, and someone was in fact out caught Short. All in all, it was probably the most interesting cricket match ever.

   1. Ian Maiden? A cricketer?

      You’ve clearly made that up.

      1. Who’s his brother – Nigel Lllong? That would be amazing. You’d have the Lllllong and the Short of it… and probably other punning opportunities.

         Sorry to mention the other sport, but it’s almost as good as when this happened: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21209277

      2. And his mate, Matt Allica.

      3. In fact, his name isn’t Ian Maiden. It’s Iain Maiden. These are the sorts of details that prove it is true.

         Also worth bearing in mind that when he was named, the band Iron Maiden didn’t exist, so his parents can’t have named him after them. They must have named him after the medieval torture instrument instead.

4. Contrast with the pathetic County Championship in England, starting in April.

   The fixtures have all been announced. Indeed, arrangements are already in place for Ged Ladd and Charley the Gent Malloy to visit Lord’s for Day 2 of the first (Middlesex v Warwickshire) fixture of the season.

5. The BCCI are surely getting ahead of the game in acknowledging that where to play and watch cricket matches are purely incidental to the process of staging an international cricket tournament.

   Come the 2023 World Cup teams and spectators can expect to receive a single side of A4 each morning, detailing that day’s fixtures and which iteration of the rules it will be played with. (I fully expect by this time that each match will have a random selection of rules regarding bowling regulations, powerplays etc. to maintain maximum spectator bafflement).

6. Weren’t they still building stadia and accommodation after the Delhi Commonwealth Games had started?

   Also, didn’t we just have the World Cup? They’re more frequent than trips to the loo the day after Guinness and curry night.

   1. i’m sure they are not every 30 minutes

7. Did Iain Maiden ever work for Alliance & Leicester? It was said that, before my tiem thre, that there had been two chaps in IT with the names Ian Maiden and Geoff Leopard. I’ve always assumed/pretended that this is true

   1. Definitely worth assuming that’s true. Marvellous.

8. That logo is a work of art. It is basically the entire brief laid out on the screen:

   “Let’s make it vibrant and colourful to reflect that T20 is a young person’s game. And sharp edges – to reflect the brand’s edginess. Umm, pink and purple aren’t bright enough, so let’s throw in a dash of orange too. And remember, the ICC logo is ALWAYS in baby blue.”

   I still don’t understand what the back-end of a dart is doing in this picture, but some things are meant to remain mysteries.

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