BANG FOR THE BUCK

Twenty20 has arrived and there is hype, though mercifully there is no frenzy as a young Indian side is not considered much of a contender. Newspapers and news channels have already given a Twenty Questions crash course on what's what.

And the action on day one of the World Cup was in keeping with the format. Bang, bang, bang with the bat doing all the talking. It rained sixes and fours galore, Chris Gayle leading the way with a sizzling century and Herschelle Gibbs returning the favour.

Instant noodles cricket is enjoyable. Dugouts for the teams like football and hockey, cheerleaders and one needn't spend the good part of the day or night watching cricket.

But what about the hapless bowler as brute force holds forth? Even a leading bowler like Shaun Pollock was reduced to repeatedly looking over his shoulder as Gayle's swings sailed past him. The ultimate insult - a no-ball means the next ball is a free hit for the batsman (he can only be run out). Which means a batsman can be caught off a no-ball and caught again off the next ball, but still remain in the crease.

Doesn't the bowler deserve some crumbs of comfort? The lines between a batter in cricket and a batter in baseball are increasingly blurring. Soon we'll see some baseball figure emerging as a team's batting coach. And 400-plus scores in the 50-over game too may well become the norm rather than the exception.

Love it or hate it, Twenty20 is here to stay. The 50-over ODIs not only pioneered cheeky batting shots and underlined the importance of fielding and fitness, but also brought greater urgency and sense of purpose to 5-day test cricket. Twenty20 will certainly raise the bar for batting standards in ODIs.

As for bowlers, they have to figure out how to be more disciplined and accurate. And embrace subtlety to tackle brute power. Just like Shaun Pollock deceiving Chris Gayle into ducking in anticipation of a bouncer, and delivering a well-disguised slower ball. Pity it was not a wicket-taking delivery.