Looking back, looking forward

Timing is everything in cricket, and given the mass of Twenty20 that is about to burst onto grounds around the world - and onto our TV screens - the Twenty20, Cricket Guide 2009 has at least picked the right time to hit the shelves.

It is a colourful publication, befitting the nature of Twenty20, and takes in the whole story of cricket's shortest format, from the concept up to the IPL. That a whole book can be devoted to the subject shows how rapidly Twenty20 has expanded and what a major part it now plays. Stuart Robertson, the brain behind the original version, when the ECB was looking to boost revenue and attendances back in 2000, could barely have imagined how quickly his idea would snowball.

Seemingly aimed at those who have been introduced to the game through the explosive nature of Twenty20, the book breaks the brief history of the format down into manageable chunks. At the back there is a glossary of basic terms so that new fans can learn to tell their legbreaks from their googlies and the switch-hit from the reverse sweep.

Chris Hawkes, the author, who had a brief first-class career with Leicestershire and previously edited the Cricketers' Who's Who, has certainly done his homework on the subject and the book is laid out in an accessible format, and makes use of copious lists and statistics tables.

A large portion of the book, almost half, is given over to previewing what is to come this year on the domestic and international front. And that is where some of the problems start. The book doesn't seem to quite know what it wants to be. It isn't small enough to be a pocket ready-reckoner, useful for quick statistical checks in the Playfair mould, and neither is it weighty coffee-table reference material.

It is unfortunate that the Twenty20 story has moved on rapidly in the last few months, with Allen Stanford's rapid fall from grace and the IPL's shift to South Africa. A rapid sport is sometimes hard to keep up with.

Giving the second half of the book over to looking ahead is a worthwhile idea but it means the book's shelf life will be short. Since the title bears the year, it seems the aim is to make this an annual publication. That will be a challenge as events are chronicled elsewhere and plenty of others will no doubt have similar ideas, but there shouldn't be a shortage of topics to write about.

The section on Stanford ends with this thought: "…the jury is still out on whether Allen Stanford and his seemingly limitless amounts of cash can bring any real value to this most traditional of games." Well, there's the first chapter and it might be worth seeing if Giles Clarke wants to write a foreword.

Twenty20 Cricket Guide 2009
by Chris Hawkes
Carlton