By CricketCountry Staff
34-year-old pacer Brett Lee believes that the Twenty20 format has now established its own place with the Australian players and fans, and is happy that the format is being considered as the third form of cricket after One-Day Internationals and Tests.
Published: Aug 04, 2011, 01:13 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 04, 2011, 01:13 PM (IST)
Brett Lee said in 2004-05, nobody knew what can be done with Twenty20 format © Getty Images
By CricketCountry Staff
Colombo: Aug 4, 2011
34-year-old pacer Brett Lee believes that the Twenty20 format has now established its own place with the Australian players and fans, and is happy that the format is being considered as the third form of cricket after One-Day Internationals and Tests.
“Certainly the players think that and I think the public are now starting to realise that it is the third format of the game. It’s a very important format of the game. It used to be, reading through the press and probably from us as well in ’04-05, a bit of a hit and giggle which it probably was back then because nobody knew how to take it on or what to do,” Lee was quoted by The Age.
“No-one knew that if you’ve gone for less than 32 runs off your four overs you’ve had an extremely good game. People saw you getting hit for 18-20 off your four overs and thought you were a bit expensive but as time goes on, 30 is pretty good. If you go for 40, even then it’s still pretty good,” he added.
“It’s about understanding your game, knowing where it can be taken to now that people are watching Twenty20 cricket, it’s exciting. Kids come down after school, parents come down after work, they don’t have to sit in the hot sun, they can watch it at night, it’s got music – it’s the stuff spectators love,” Lee expressed, adding that the format is going to get stronger with time.
Lee plays for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.
Australia have launched the revamped version of the Big Bash League Twenty20 competition, where franchise-style operations will compete domestically in the country for the very first time.
Meanwhile, Australia are set to take on Sri Lanka in the first of the two T20 clash at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka also includes three Test matches and five ODIs.
