Book Title: Cricket 2.0: Inside the T20 Revolution
Author: Tim Wigmore Freddie Wilde
Format: Kindle
Book Title:
The title of the book ‘Cricket 2.0: Inside the T20 Revolution‘ is apparent and self-explanatory that the book is about T20 format Cricket and it’s IN and OUT.
Book Cover:
The cover image of the book is of a cricket ground with single players representing their teams. The image creates certain magic and excitement.
About the authors:
Tim Wigmore is a journalist for The Daily Telegraph, ESPNCricinfo, The New York Times, and The Economist, specializing in cricket, sports analytics, and the business of sport. He is also a weekly columnist for the I paper. Tim is a former winner of the CMJ Young Cricket Journalist of the Year, and runner-up for the Ian Woodbridge Young Sports Writer of the Year award. His first book, Second XI: Cricket in its Outposts, was named one of The Guardian’s sports books of the year for 2015. Freddie Wilde works as an analyst and is on the editorial team at the cricket data analytics company CricViz who provides services to broadcasters, professional teams, and players. Freddie is also a freelance journalist, specializing in T20 cricket. He has written for ESPNcricinfo, The Cricket Monthly, All Out Cricket, CricBuzz, Wisden India, and others.
About the book: Cricket 2.0 is the definitive book for those looking to understand the T20 format – both on and off the pitch’ – Nasser Hussain
My review:
As per my knowledge and whatever I have read, T20 Cricket matches were popular in the 1960s in England and then were called Evening League Matches. The game of cricket was more or less a middle-class man’s game rather being a Gentleman’s game. The game has gone with several module changes and ended up with a 50 over ODI. As time passed and the interest on the game was getting narrowed gradually, the T20 format match has again popped up.
It was in the year 2003 again the initial matches of the T20 format have begun. Initially, it was not at all gaining support and was also criticized. Though it was not getting the required momentum, it rose to heights within no-time. There were questions all over right from a person choosing Cricket as his passion until he becomes a breed of the ‘ traditional players ‘. But once it gained a huge fan following, the 50 over matches were losing its viewers until favorite players from every team started playing both the formats. T20 was becoming famous amongst youngsters a lot and no doubt the same format was adopted by the younger ones who play on streets.
What most of the audience or the viewers are unaware of is what goes inside the team, the ergonomics, and economics of T20 format. In this book by Tim and Freddie, they give their readers a complete package of T2 format, how it’s played, what are the unknown facts that are often masked but when understood create a whole different scenario on the game and such things are wonderfully explained in detail.
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As the book progresses, the readers experience rare phenomena of almost 50 players and other important people from the world of Cricket and their interviews. The concept itself was so attractive that I could not resist myself in flipping pages to check out my favorite players’ interviews. This book definitely is recommended for every cricket fan and especially those people who have purposefully sacrificed to watch matches of T20 format during T20 WC and have lots of memories with every match. The limited duration of the game is one of the most fascinating points. The authors have highlighted all the important facts with figures and realistic explanations in the book to give the readers an awesome reading experience. I am sure that after reading this book my view of watching a T20 match will surely change for good.
Read the review in Storizen Magazine June 2020 here
It would be absolutely inhuman on my part if I don’t appreciate the amount of research and details study both Tim and Freddie have done in bringing out this book. Last but not the least, the forewords by Michael Vaughan and Harsha Bhogle, as well as exclusive interviews with figures including Jason Gillespie and Ricky Ponting, are perfectly the icing on the cake!
What I like:
1. The very thought of writing this book is appreciable
2. The concept of including interviews of stalwarts of International Cricket is fanciful
3. The journey of cricket from its start to till power plays in ODIs to T20s is absolutely interesting
4. The minute to major changes the format of the game that happened over years with an addition of modern batting techniques if delightful to read
5. The paradigm shift of the Cricket game from a simple game to over countries battles and then to economic pawn is quite bizarre but good to know.
6. The book also greatly dealt with the psychoanalysis of the players and the teams concerning their discipline of either batting or bowling or fielding.
7. The struggles a player faces while playing in T20 formats and IPL and if by chance has to play an ODI is well explained.
8. For the myth makers who believed T20 is a joke, this book with its extreme research and analysis proves it wrong.
What I didn’t like:
As a Cricket fan I do miss the authentic format of ODI that is played for 50 over matches on either side and knowing more about T20 and getting used to it is a small disappointment.
Narration:
An engaging and impressive narration with real-time facts and scenarios the book offers a great deal of entertainment. Involving the minute nuances and intrinsic details about T20 Cricket world and style, the book gives great factual information
Language & Grammar:
Either the colloquial language or the Cricket language that is used in the book is very convenient to read and understand. With a great choice of rich vocabulary, the book stands high on literary standards.
My Final Verdict:
A, B and C’s of T20 International Cricket
Book Title: 4/5
Book Cover: 4/5
Inside the book: 4/5
Narration: 4/5
Language & Grammar: 4/5
Final Rating: 4/5
(Reviewed by Swapna Peri)
This book review was published in Storizen Magazine June 2020 issue.
