PARIS, Sept 6: “Everyone thought it was a Mickey Mouse game, just a bit of fun really.” Those words could have been said when Australia played New Zealand in the first international Twenty20 staged in Auckland in February 2005.

But they weren’t.

In fact, they were uttered by former Test batsman Doug Walters in January 1971 when the first One-day international was played between the Aussies and England in Melbourne.

That brief encounter, quickly arranged after the rain-hit third Test had been abandoned without a ball being bowled, was greeted with stone-faced contempt by the traditionalists who were prepared to issue a speedy death certificate on the limited overs format.

But instead the match, won by Australia, like so many since, attracted 45,000 fans, swelled the coffers and sparked a revolution in the game which split the sport, generated nine World Cups and is still going strong.

When England played India at The Oval on Wednesday, it was the 2,619th One-day international to take place.

Many in the game believe that Twenty20, which stages its inaugural world championship from Sept 11-24 in South Africa can enjoy a similarly promising, and money-spinning future.

That’s despite another generation of doubters pouring scorn on its brief, bish-bash philosophy which encourages fans to enjoy their beer and burgers and don hard hats to resist the showers of sixes smashed to all parts of the ground in the unashamedly pro-batsmen game.

“Any World Cup is a big stage. A World Cup is a World Cup. The World Twenty20 is a high-prestige event and we will give everything,” promised Indian vice-captain Yuvraj Singh.

“You have less time to settle in Twenty20 cricket and you need to play your shots earlier. But you can’t just go out there and slog, it’s a format in which you still need to play good cricket and think about how to get a good score. You need to work really hard in a short time.” Australian vice-captain Adam Gilchrist said he believes all teams will take the tournament seriously but hopes that the aim of winning won’t overshadow the enjoyment factor.

“We’ve tasted Twenty20 cricket, and it’s been a real entertainment package, but in every game we played there’s never been anything up for grabs. It’s almost been like an exhibition game if you like,” said Gilchrist.

“There’s a world title up for grabs, it will get serious,” he said. “But I hope the entertainment factor stays. I would encourage everyone to try and embrace that entertainment part of the game.” He said the championships could also lead to more Twenty20 internationals forming part of the schedule.

“I don’t know necessarily if it will be the be all and end all of Twenty20, but I do think it’s here to stay for a number of reasons and it may be a case of, if Twenty20 cricket continued to grow, it might limit the 50-over game to a certain extent, with the need to tailor the programme to fit both in.” Bill Lawry, who captained the Australian team in that pioneering one-dayer on that damp day in January 1971, probably, had similar questions over where the game was heading.

“We won it but we didn’t really know what we were doing,” said Lawry.—AFP