20 Things You Need To Know About Twenty20

1. •  So you want excitement? Well you've come to the right place -as every ball is a potential boundary or run out. You can expect to see at least the ball cross the boundary rope 40 times and the third umpire called to adjudicate on more than half a dozen run out decisions in each game!
   
   
2. •  Teams are very versatile -everyone is expected to be able to field proficiently and handle a bat in the chase for quick runs.
   
   
3. •  Unlike the longer forms of the game, it is the spinners and gentle medium pacers who are the most effective in tying down batsmen and slowing the run rate. Batsmen are forced to generate their own pace on the ball -this often results in mis-timing of shots and subsequently, catches.
   
   
4. •  Even an experienced 'death' bowler like Shaun Pollock can concede more than 40 runs in a four over spell. Troy Cooley, England's former bowling coach, suggested that bowlers should embrace this form of the game and not see themselves as canon fodder, whilst former Aussie test player Michael Kasprowicz joked that big-time bowlers leave their egos in the dressing room because in this game, the bat definitely dominates the ball.
   
   
5. •  The umpires are extremely strict when it comes to wides and the batsmen will try and play shots from most deliveries -so there are lots of leg byes.
   
   
6. •  Catches win matches! Never was the old saying truer than in twenty20, where a good catch can turn a game. Great fielders such as Paul Collingwood, Ricky Ponting and Herschelle Gibbs can save 20 runs in an innings with their athletic fielding at point or cover.
   
   
7. •  It's all about the total and it doesn't matter how you achieve it! So if teams batting first lose lots of wickets near the end of their allotted overs, it won't make too much difference to the total or supremacy -as long as they use all their overs and keep the scoreboard ticking over.
   
   
8. •  Losing a wicket can actually help your team! That sounds bizarre, but if a player is out of form or scoring too slowly then it is best that someone else is at the crease -so instead of using up the overs, they are pushing up the total.
   
   
9. •  Advantages of batting first: you don't have to bat with the floodlights; you can really throw the bat in the last few overs and then once you have the runs on the board you're able to attack/defend according to the total.
   
   
10. • Advantages of batting second: you know the total you are chasing and so can pace the innings; the ball can be difficult for fielders to spot if it is up in the lights.
    
    
11. • The margin of victory for teams batting first is usually smaller than that of teams batting second (TBS). This is because the TBS are able to pace their innings and only take chances as and when the situation dictates. If the TBS loses then it is generally by 30 runs or less (unless they have a real collapse of course), but if their batsmen dominate a game then it is possible for them to win by 8 or 9 wickets (1 wicket = 10 runs in spread betting terms).
    
    
12. • If a team scores less than 40 runs in the first six overs then they'll struggle to defend that total. Due to early fielding restrictions, batting teams usually attack from the start -hoping to score some easy boundaries in the gaps on the fence.
    
    
13. • When things get tight then the team batting second usually triumph -after all, it's a big boundary to defend and even tail enders can edge it to fine leg for four.
    
    
14. • A lack of big names in your team doesn't mean that they can't win -neither of the sides in this year's Twenty20 final, Kent and Gloucester, have any players in the England world cup squad (not sure how good/bad that makes England!).
    
    
15. •  The ICC World Twenty20 will take place from 11th to 24th September and will involve 12 teams, 27 matches and three venues.
    
    
16. • Unlike our county twenty20 matches, the world cup games will be played at three different times of the day, with games starting at 11am, 3pm or 7pm (UK time). This means that the lights wont be a problem in the earlier matches.
    
    
17. • The white kookaburra ball will be used in the world cup matches -this is the same type that is used in the ECB form of the game.
    
    
18. • The world cup could see the first century in an international match. Australia's meeting with Zimbabwe in the group stages will be the ideal platform for Gilchrist, Ponting or Hayden to put their name in the record books.
    
    
19. • Expect a few shock results in the tournament, as the shortened version of the game narrows the gap in class between teams.
    
    
20. • The current international twenty20 records read like this:

Highest Team Score: New Zealand 232 v Can (26th Jan 2005)

Highest Win Margin (Runs): Eng - 100 v Aus (13th June 2005)

Highest Win Margin (Wickets): Sth Afr - 10 v Pak (2 Feb 2007)

Best Bowling: P Collingwood (Eng) - 4-22 v Sri La (15 June 2006)

Highest Indiv Score: R Ponting (Aus) - 98 v N Z (17th Feb 2005)

Highest Partnership: G Smith & L Bosman (1st Wicket, South Africa) - 132 v Pakistan (2 Feb 2007)

Highest No of Sixes hit: Australia - 14 v England (9th Jan 2007)

Lowest runs scored off an over: Eng v Pak - Mohammed Asif - 2 Wicket maiden. (28 August 2006)