Oh, it’s Enreekay and T20 time again

The second edition of the T20 Champions League is on these shores as I type this. Enrique — or Enreekay — kicked the circus off with a concert at Emmarentia Dam in Johannesburg and did a few numbers before the Lions took on the Indians (referring to the teams without their region/sponsor is easier, unless un-metaphorised, and more entertaining).The fact the Lions actually upset the apple cart by winning was surprising, but for those wise in the matters of the game, not unexpected.

The Indians were equipped with a better side. However, it was never going to be easy. They had come to Lions home ground in an unordinary time of the season, and were playing a team that knew how to operate as a unit. The Lions, the “Black Caps” of domestic cricket in the republic these days, then ruined the party for the tournament’s backers by beating one of the favourites.

Didn’t it feel like a bit of an away win for the Lions? While they were the masters of the conditions, an advantage they had to take, the crowd weren’t behind them. Whenever Tendulkar hit a four, the noise was much more audible then when “Mac Attack” Neil McKenzie hit a four. The commentators (who still suffer from that IPL malaise of getting a bit too excited) noticed it and with the title sponsor being an Indian company, it was like watching the first episode of IPL Survivor: South Africa.

Even the Champions League name is a bit deceptive, with English and Pakistani teams not participating. The cricket hasn’t been bad, and though the Indians lost the opener they, along with the Kings and Challengers, will be serious threats for anyone in the tournament. The home sides have the advantage of knowing the conditions, while some of the other participants have team sheets which often lead to questions of “who’s that guy?”

All the upsets, demolitions and such will all form a tournament the organisers want: an entertaining one that looks awesome on television. The T20 Champions League, in only it’s second “season”, is already stale and we haven’t even reached the knockouts yet. The six counter is a symbol of this monotony. I guess if you weren’t introduced to cricket via the Test or One-Day route, it must all seem all so repetitive. What a pity.

Granted, the other two games are slower, which is a big difference. Still, fours and sixes mean more in other formats, because the batsman has to work a little harder for them. They were designed to reward a batsman’s skill. A couple of fours in a tough lunch session, without losing a wicket, is appreciated more due to the raised level of difficulty (balanced pitch, no fielding or bowling restrictions and time). T20 demands this all the time from batsmen and bowlers, which negates the ability to tell one innings from another because, in the end, they are all doing pretty much the same thing in slightly different ways — skill level is still important but its dominance has been checked somewhat.

There are other reasons. It’s more difficult to get behind a regional team. South Africans just don’t take cricket that seriously for it to reach the blood feud levels of Currie Cup rugby. Oh sure, we want to win, but not to the point of hating your opposition unless you have a really really good reason to do so. And we’ve already hosted the IPL itself, so how much different a tournament are we getting here? Been there, done that? We’ve hosted everything now, so what does one more tournament matter (plaudits to Cricket South Africa for doing a very good job in this area it must be said).

Also, for those who follow both cricket, soccer and rugby, it has been one busy year. The 2010 World Cup took its toll on the reserves. The Springboks … well … let’s rather not go there but in two words: super average. Now we have to deal with a cricket tournament with teams that not many people know about while the Currie Cup is still getting to the semis? Epic overload.

The crowds haven’t been too bad, and this isn’t a claim towards the tournament not being a commercial success, which it probably will be, or at least finish in the black. It’s just that it feels like we’ve been here before, and with it being of international flavour, it appears that South Africans see a Champions League game as a nice day out which happens to include a cricket match instead of the other way around. If T20 is attracting fans to the game itself, it isn’t giving them a very good tutorial, just skimming over the bones and leaving a flesh, reportedly awesome and gleaning, but lacking the dips and spots that make the contest in longer forms of the game.

Now that I look at it, Enreekay was a very suitable choice to open the tournament: a fellow who though troublesome at times (for those he aggravates, men would form the majority) isn’t viewed with suspicion. Rather, an attitude of a single, raised eyebrow and “Oh, Enreekay’s back in SA again. That’s nice” pervades the air. Sure, he does have his fans and he puts on a good show, but if I really want to see it again, I can do that when he returns in a few years.