Adam Zampa says Twenty20 matches should be shortened
Watching spectators leave T20 matches early while he was playing in England has prompted Melbourne Stars and Australia spinner Adam Zampa to suggest the format should be shortened.
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Twenty20 cricket games go too long and should be wound back to match the length of an AFL game, according to Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa.
The white-ball specialist watched fans walk out of T20 matches while playing for Essex in England last year and said innings should last no longer than 60 minutes.
Big Bash League games usually exceed three hours while batting teams will have access to a 90-second strategic time-out this season, which can be taken between overs seven and 13.
“Sometimes I feel like T20 cricket drags on a little bit,” Zampa told the Sunday Herald Sun.
“You go and watch a rugby league or an AFL game and it goes for two or two-and-a-half- hours.
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“T20 cricket is seen as the shortest format but I found when I was in England playing for Essex that with a 7pm start, people started to leave at 10 o’clock.
“They wanted to get home. You could see a few people (leaving) and obviously you’ve got the train times as a factor and bed times and kids have got to get to school the next day.
“Little things like that, I actually remember last year being a part of it and thinking, ‘Something needs to happen here. It needs to be 60-minute innings’.”
Zampa joked that while he didn’t give any formal feedback, the England and Wales Cricket Board “must’ve read my mind” when it created The Hundred, which is a new 100-ball format that begins next year.
The third edition of the T10 league in Abu Dhabi started on Friday. Former BBL star Dwayne Bravo tipped that format to explode.
Big Bash captains are given 80 minutes to complete their overs – four minutes per over – not allowing for medical breaks, third umpire referrals or time taken to dry or replace a ball.
Allowances are also given for wickets that fall in the final three overs of an innings, excluding the last delivery.
Penalties for slow over rates appear lenient.
Teams are fined for their first two slow over-rate offences and captains only receive a one-match suspension after three strikes.
Brisbane Heat icon Brendan McCullum missed a match against Melbourne Stars at the MCG in 2017 because of slow over rates.
There is no DRS in the Big Bash because that would further put the brakes on.
Zampa was drafted for $75,000 by former Victorian coach Andrew McDonald’s franchise Birmingham Phoenix for the inaugural season of The Hundred.
Zampa, 27, also has a close relationship with assistant coach Dan Vettori although he conceded a Test career was now unlikely.
“Shane Warne said there’s a lot of space between Nathan Lyon and the next person in terms of Test cricket and I tend to agree,” Zampa said.
“I haven’t played any first-class cricket, really. When you only play three games in three years there’s nothing to build on.”