Cricket: Craig a spearhead for the new cricket revolution

If someone was sat down and asked to come up with a perfect game to suit the skills of Craig Spearman, Twenty20 is close to what they would have designed.

The Central Districts and Gloucestershire opener is renowned for his ability to play a shot a ball and in his first season of the new game, the 2003 English county season, he averaged 36 while scoring his runs at a strike rate of 160.

Last year the wheels fell off big time, with Spearman averaging less than five, but it hasn't dampened his enthusiasm for the concept.

"It's been fantastic. It's been a huge success," said Spearman.

"It came into cricket in England with the idea of attracting (a) more crowds to cricket and (b) a different type of crowd - younger people, females, a different demographic than your traditional games.

"It was just an instant success in terms of achieving what they wanted with different people and bums on seats," Spearman said.

"It was beyond everyone's wildest expectations. There were thousands of people coming along to the matches."

After the initial success of the inaugural 2003 season there was some worry that its popularity might tail off in 2004, but no.

"It was just as popular last year," Spearman said. "As a result of that success we will be playing more games this year."

Spearman is enjoying a season with Central Districts in which they're again playing with great success in one-day cricket and struggling in the four-dayers.

He said the Twenty20 concept suited some teams more than others in England and that could determine the attitude particular sides took into the competition.

"It's one of those games where if teams are doing well, they adapt to the game pretty quickly and enjoy it and think it's great. If teams aren't doing so well then they don't give it quite as much dedication.

"With the way county cricket works, if teams are doing well in other competitions they focus a little less on that. If teams aren't doing so well in other competitions midway through the season, it's another competition they can focus on."

Spearman, perhaps surprisingly, is less confident about the chances of the concept working in New Zealand at a domestic level.

"To be perfectly honest I don't know if it'd be as successful in New Zealand because cricket's not as popular here as in England. Not as many people come and watch.

"That's not to say it won't work, but I'm not sure if it'll be as much of a success."

February 17, when New Zealand play Australia at Eden Park, might go some way to answering that.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY