ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the emergence in the early twenty-first century of a new, shorter format of cricket, known universally as ‘Twenty20’. It explores the politics of this emergence and discusses the establishment and significance of Twenty20’s most visible and lucrative manifestation – the Indian Premier League, established in 2008. Martin Crowe judged Cricket Max ‘too contrived’ and New Zealand journalist Joseph Romanos suggested that the format only survived as long as it did because Sky do not have the rights to screen any conventional cricket. Martin Crowe was confident of the format’s future: ‘Let’s see the one-day game settle into 40-over mode. Remove the gunk in the middle, keep it simple, stupid, and hey presto, every captain will be positive about the format that is the life blood of our fine game’. The emergence of Twenty20 cricket as the game’s key commercial resource brought about what has been widely described as global cricket’s second ‘Packer moment’.
