BBC SPORT | Cricket | Cricket goes octagonal



By Scott Heinrich BBC Sport Online in Cardiff

Under the roof in the Millennium Stadium on Friday night was not the place for cricket purists, which was just as well, considering there were none to be seen.

This was not your run-of-the-mill cricket crowd, but then this was not your normal game of cricket.

To the cheering fans in attendance, Power Cricket is what they came to see and it is Power Cricket they got.

It's all very strange, I couldn't see it catching on at international level

Spectator Robert Wilson

Save for a few in the crowd, there were no maidens. And even if there were, the muted applause which follows one at sacrosanct Lord's would have been met with hushed confusion.

It would be wrong to call Power Cricket disrespectful. Far from it.

It is a whole lot of fun aimed at making cricket more sexy and therefore more accessible to the wider populace.

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But the rules in observance were so far removed from the game we know as cricket that even George Orwell couldn't have seen it coming.

Bonus runs, matted wickets, player substitutions and brutality were the order of the day; forward defensives weren't even offered as an appetiser.

In this bizarre, Americanised world fours don't get clapped and sixes are considered boring, what with "eights" and "10s" on offer.

'I've got the power'

Ali Brown was the first to get octagonal - a score attained by launching a missile into the second tier of the three levels of stands - and was greeted by "I've got the Power" blaring through the loudspeaker.

Pakistan legend Wasim Akram went for a top-edged six off his first ball. The crowd loved it.

Robin Smith, the striking batsman, obviously peeved at opportunity lost, played an identically speculative shot next ball and was caught behind. The crowd loved it.

Muttiah Muralitharan grabbed three first innings wickets

Fielders would naturally occupy a strange place in such a run-ravenous environment, and all of them did - on the fence.

Their roles were generally confined to arching their necks, watching the ball fly over them and hoping it wasn't them who had to jump the fence to retrieve it.

Organisers DP Cricket say approximately 10,000 tickets were pre-sold for the event, a figure they were evidently happy with.

Photo gallery: Pictures from Cardiff

Though I lost count after 10, it is safe to say the people of Cardiff either suffer from amnesia or have more money than sense.

Nevermind, with their hooters and horns and enthusiasm the ones that did show made plenty enough noise.

The crowd, mostly youngsters accompanied by adults, were here to see one thing - runs.

Except when the Rest of the World side are batting and especially when local heroes Simon Jones and Robert Croft are bowling to them.

Star-studded

Robert Wilson, of Cardiff, sat alone and feasted on the spectacle as well as the plentiful fast food on offer within the stadium.

"It's all very strange but I like it, though I couldn't see it catching on at international level," John said.

"It's a shame more people couldn't come but it is Friday night and I'm sure more people will come tomorrow.

"And you can bet if it was raining outside people would have flocked here."

Ah, yes. The weather. As is too often the case with British sporting events, the weather got in the way.

Inside, countless floodlights shone down on a star-studded cast list that knew their lines. Outside, it was a beautiful, clear autumn day.


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