T20 format could achieve the Olympic dream: Ian Chappell

Former Australian cricketer and commentator Ian Chappell recently opened up on his thoughts regarding ECB’s new 100-ball format game, The Hundred. Chappell added that the T20 format of cricket was enough and sufficient to push cricket’s case into the Olympics and The Hundred was really not needed. The inaugurals season of the new format is currently underway in England and aimed to attract the attention of the younger generation.

The first season of The Hundred is seeing both men and women’s teams playing in it. However, the former Australian cricketer added that if The Hundred was aimed to achieve cricket fulfilling the Olympic dream, the T20 format could have done it right and there was no further need to reduce it even more.

“Apart from reducing the number of balls to obtain a terrestrial television deal, the reasoning behind the Hundred could well be that it improves the chances of cricket fulfilling the Olympic dream. This is often cited as a way to spread the game’s popularity to a wider audience. Surely the T20 format could achieve that same outcome without yet another reduction,” wrote Chappell in his column for ESPNcricinfo.

Performance satisfaction is a big reason why youngsters love the game: Ian Chappell

Further giving his thoughts, Chappell added that cricket is the game that is meant to make the young generation fall in love with it which comes through performance satisfaction. On the other hand, if more the length of the game is reduced, people will aim more on their numbers only without giving performance satisfaction any thought. The topic of cricket being involved in the Olympics is long being discussed among the cricket fraternity now.

“Cricket is a team game ideally played by 11 members a side. Performance satisfaction is a big reason why youngsters fall in love with the game. Administrators would do well to remember that before they rush into devising shorter forms of the game. The more the length of an innings is reduced, the greater chance that there will be players “just making up the numbers,” concluded Chappell.