Twenty20 Is Cricket's Streamlined Format.it's Built For Speed, Entertainment And New Fans

T20 was first played at franchise level in England in 2003. That makes it a baby in terms of cricket, which has been played in one form or another for at least 400 years. Within four years, T20 had its own World Cup...

The first professional franchise cricket league in the United States has completed its first edition. Curious Americans, don't worry. The games won't take days. There won't be hours-long periods of play when nothing seems to happen. And no extended breaks when the teams disappear for “lunch” or “tea.”

Instead, expect an action-packed type of cricket, with batters going for big hits from the outset and fielders throwing themselves around in an attempt to make catches or stop runs.Major League Cricket in the U.S. is using the Twenty20 format, also known in the business as T20, one of the game's shortest, quickest and newest versions.

THINK OF IT AS CRICKET 2.0.

While cricket still has its traditional test matches, which last up to five days and have no other restrictions on how long an innings can take, T20 is a limited-overs game and gives each team a set number of balls to get as many runs as it can. The upshot is a far more exciting chase to get quick runs before your 20 overs are up. Those 20 overs translate as 120 balls, or deliveries, to hit. Each team gets one inning of 20 overs, hence the name Twenty20. Major League Cricket is launching partly because the T20 World Cup featuring the world's best international teams is set be co-hosted by the U.S. next year.

WHEN DID TWENTY20 CRICKET START?