Man who invented T20 sits back — and pitches for the future

Nottingham:

It was an inconsequential match in the context of the tournament and neither team had a massive entourage of traveling fans. Yet, the crowds trickled in to Trent Bridge two hours before the start of the West Indies-Sri Lanka match, which the Lankans eventually won.

At the World Twenty20 championships — despite the lack of publicity, despite tickets being sold at almost-ridiculous rates — the stands have been filling up. About 10 years ago, things weren’t this good in the English game.

Not only was the national team struggling to string together meaningful results (read no Ashes victory in over 16 years at the time), county cricket, the backbone of the sport in the country, was pretty much on life support as far as spectator interest went.

It was then that Stuart Robertson, along with John Carr — both marketing men at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) — were asked to draw up a proposal to revive the game. After some extensive market research (commissioned at over £200,000) and lots of head-scratching, they came up with Twenty20.

Robertson is acknowledged as the inventor of T20 cricket although he has slipped away from the glaring spotlight the game has been under since 2003 when it made its debut in England. And what was once a solution simply to bring people back to the grounds — and many critics shrugged off as a short-lived gimmick — has turned into what’s being spoken about, not in whispers any more, as the future of the game itself.

My views about racism.

i agree with some of the comments from above.indian students or people hardly mix and interact with he locals.this leads to the sort of problems being highlighted in the news.not to say the attackers are not at fault.the indians are hardworking and industrious and the middle eastern people who allegedly perpetrated thses attacks are wastrels.the indians to their disadvantage do the sort of things like try and cheat you on the taxi fares(lots of indian students drive taxi's illegally),jump queue's and most of all speak in their language which leads to suspicion indians too are racist.i have had enough of being called chinky-pinky,jackie chan,chinky etc in the indian cities due to my oriental looks.somehow we dont seem to address that and when a student gets beaten it becomes something of national importance.indians as well tend to ogle at women who are generally not as covered as they are back in india.i have seen many an indian get slapped or scolded due to this

ANOTHER RACIAL ATTACK ON INDIAN IN AUSTRALIA.

Racial attacks on Indian students spread to South Australia with a 22-year-old being allegedly assaulted by a teenager in Adelaide after making "rude" comments about his turban, even as the state premier warned he will not tolerate any form of racism.

Police said the Indian student suffered a broken nose and sore jaw in the incident in Adelaide's busy market area of Rundle Mall on Thursday and that they have arrested a 17-year-old youth in this connection.

The attacker has been bailed to appear in the Adelaide Youth Court.

A bystander said he saw the Indian student punching first, but the student claimed that his attacker started the spat when he hit him on his turban and asked "what's that on your head?"

The student, whose requested anonymity, was walking through a local mall with friends when he heard a commotion behind him, local media reported.

The spate of racial attacks against Indians spread to Adelaide, capital city of South Australia, after members of the community were targeted in Melbourne and Sydney.

South Australian Premier Mike Rann described the attack as a "disgrace" and said the state has been welcoming migrants and students from around the world for many years.

"We are seen internationally as one of the safest and most supportive multicultural communities. We will not tolerate any form of racism," Rann said.

The Indian student said the attacker started a confrontation by making "rude comments" about his turban.

Asked if he thought the attack was racially motivated, the student said he had never felt it was a problem in Adelaide. "But what would you call this?"