1. It's been pretty dull
T20 is supposed to be the format of cricket that appeals to a wider audience. Even as a massive fan of the game, I appreciate that most people do not want to spend five days watching Jonathan Trott nurdle the ball into the leg side or Stuart Broad maintaining a consistent line and length outside off stump. T20 has worked because it's both quick and exciting, with the greatest rewards being for players who can improvise and make things happen.
Therefore, having a group stage which is to all intensive purposes completely meaningless isn't the best way to start the tournament. Afghanistan, Ireland, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have all bitten the dust, and due to the vagueries of the seeding system, the matches between the bigger nations are completely pointless given they have no bearing on the rest of the tournament. Essentially, the first round of matches have been glorified warm-ups.
2. The attendances are low and this is good news for the IPL
The somewhat pointless nature of the matches has been reflected in the attendances, with in particular the daytime games being watched by no-one in particular. Only India seem to have attracted full houses for both games (unsurprisingly) and again in leads to the general feel of a tournament that hasn't really started. This is supposed to be the biggest T20 tournament in the world, but at the minute it is failing to live up to either the cricket nor excitement of the IPL. And that is only a good thing for the IPL, which will attract more fans as it becomes clearer that it is where the future of T20 (and possibly cricket as a whole) lies.
3. England need to go back to move forward against spin
Mixed in with a dissappointing start to the tournament was England's horrifying attempts at playing what at the end of the day are two fairly ordinary spinners in international terms against India. Most worrying was that England seemed to have no clear gameplan of how to combat what is a well-known problem for them, with batsman falling into pre-meditated shots or being completely bamboozled by variation. Andy Flower remains one the finest players of spin I have seen but seems unable to transmit his ideas to a team of players who do not face this quality of spin often enough or bat on pitches that give spinners this much opportunity.
The best I have seen any England team play spin was under Duncan Fletcher, using the forward press technique (third of a stride forward when the bowler enters his action). This technique seems to have been lost since Fletcher left the scene but seems to have been the most effective technique England have found against spin, particularly for Trescothick and Vaughan in their pomp and hopefully come the tour of India it may make a comeback.
4. T20 has saved Shane Watson's career and continues to work for him
Someone who has provided some entertainment in between the one-sided games and the rain is Shane Watson, for whom T20 cricket has provided a career that in previous generations may have fizzled out into nothing. Watson's talent has never been in doubt but an almost interminable set of injuries completely derailed his career, and he looked set to be added to the list of players who never fulfilled their potential through any fault of their own. However, injury prone players now have an avenue to extend their careers via T20 and Watson has used it perfectly.
In 2008, Watson had spent two years injured when all and sundry expected him to take Andrew Symonds place in the test side. He missed the Australian 2007/08 summer, normally meaning that he had little chance of playing county cricket in England and thus would have to wait until the next Australian summer to prove his fitness. Watson instead was able to play in the 2008 IPL, playing every game bar one (rested) for Rajasthan, finishing in the top 4 for both runs and wickets, and winning player of the tournament. Crucially for his career, he proved he could have success opening the batting. When Phil Hughes disintegrated in the 2009 Ashes, Watson was now fit, and success opening the batting, admittedly in another format, and got his Test place. Three years later he is the reigning Australian player of the year and man of the match in both of their first two games. Not bad for a player who twenty years ago would have most likely been forced into injury retirement.
5. A bad tournament for the men could mean a good one for the women
Coinciding with the start of the next group phase in the beginning of the sister women's T20 tournament, held in the same venues with both semi-finals and final at the same ground as the men's semis and final earlier in the day. The general dullness and malaise of the men's tournament plays into the women's tournaments hands, where T20 is creating a new buzz around women's cricket. England's women in particular are benefitting from this, with a raised profile in this tournament due to a number of factors, including the Olympic summer, the novelty factor but maybe above all the fact that until their final game before the tournament they were unbeaten in T20 cricket for 18 months.
England are expected to win, and rightly so. They bat inventively, bowl to their plans and their fielding puts the men's subcontinent teams to shame. The general consensus from those more in the know than me is that England have reached a level in the past 12 months that deserves recognition well beyond what they currently receive, and at the centre of this is Sarah Taylor, the keeper/batsman who has several pundits saying she is good enough to play county cricket. If the men's tournament continues to flounder and the women's tournament can entertain, then England's women can ultimately benefit, if they win the tournament as expected.
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