da betano casino： The fans got what they wanted in the third Twenty20 finals day
da bet vitoria： Roving reporter by Andrew McGlashan at The Oval30-Jul-2005
The mascot race was won by Warwickshire © Getty Images
This season has seen a new range of innovations brought into one-dayinternationals but early trials of Supersubs and Powerplays met with adecidedly cool response from players and public alike. The same cannot besaid of the most successful limited-overs innovation in recent years as afull house at The Oval demonstrated the continued thirst for Twenty20action – both on and off the field.Heading to the ground in the morning the trains, tubes and buses hosted a sea ofvarious coloured shirts as Lancashire, Leicestershire and Somerset fansmade the long journey – for what ultimately could have proved adepressingly short stay for their team. There was also the slightlyconfusing sight of a couple of guys in Warwickshire shirts – perhaps theyhad forgotten they’d been knocked out via a bowl-out against Surrey.Maybe they knew that their mascot – Carmen Bear – would pull off athrilling victory in the mascot race, or maybe they were just making the trip to enjoy thehalf-time entertainment provided by Girls Aloud.Being a county supporter certainly demands some dedication, not to mentiona disturbing enjoyment of a lack of sleep, and the need to own a reliable car. OneLancashire fan had set off from Manchester at 4.30am, arriving in Londonfour hours later. His plans were to travel back north once Lancashire’sparticipation had been ended and, as they progressed into the finals, herealised coffee would be needed for the return journey. “Oh well,” hesaid, “it’s Sunday tomorrow, so I can have a lie-in.”Surrey fans did not have the same problem of a long distance journey, infact they had home advantage when they took on Lancashire in a repeat oflast year’s semi-final. By the time Surrey were beaten by 22 runs, the supporterswould have been grateful for the short hop home.The crowd grew during the first semi-final and so did the atmosphere.Lancashire’s clash with Surrey had plenty of spice, and the crowd werecertainly not shy of having a word (it must be a North-South thing). But bythe time Leicestershire and Somerset took to the field the variousbeverages on offer had had time to take effect and the singing was now in fullvoice. Clear sections of support for each county began to take on eachother in an attempt to sing the loudest and most out-of-tune chants theycould manage.Crowd participation is a huge part of Twenty20 cricket, although the minorscuffle that broke out as the afternoon wore on probably isn’t what theECB had in mind. The fan who was escorted away, to the amusement of therest of the stand, had obviously had money on Sid the Shark and not CarmenBear.The electric pace of Twenty20 means the spectators can’t take their eyesof the on-field action for a moment, not only so they won’t miss anythingbut also for their own safety. Andrew Flintoff hit one flat, straight sixwhich went like a tracer bullet, while one fan found a Darren Maddy sweepheading straight into his foolishly unguarded pint. Another spectatordecided to try and catch a thunderous shot from Alistair Brown and wasleft wringing his hand in pain. He will have more sympathy next time hewatches a catch go down.Sadly, the crowd did not get nearly as involved with the half-timeentertainment from Girls Aloud as they had with the cricket. Asmall group of ‘fans’ amassed in front of the stage area – some oldenough to know better – but generally the sense was that the crowd wantedeither to go home and lick their wounds, in the case of Surrey andLeicestershire, or to get ready for the final.And that just emphasises one of the developments in this summer’sTwenty20, which has been notable for a reduction in the gimmicks that weresuch a large part of the spectacle when it started in 2003. Girls Aloudhad the misfortune of falling foul of the weather but Twenty20 cricket isnow able to stand on its own two feet. The two semi-finals are a perfectexample of this, one match produced more than 400 runs, the other a thrillinglast over finish. Somerset’s fightback even led one long-suffering fan toremark, “I’d rather watch Carl Gazzard than Girls Aloud.” Twenty20 isabout giving the fans what they want, and clearly they are not tiring ofthe cricket … but the entertainment is another matter.