More than anything else, it was time that once defined cricket. Most other sports, enacted briefly across a field, dealt with the would-be domination of space. An American, say, could understand most sports, but the notion that a contest may exhaust 30 hours and still end in stalemate upset his sense of purpose. In Twenty20, stoicism becomes a crime.

In the six years that the format has carried its frenzy across the world, the key paths to success have become clear. Batsmen who belt 35 from 25 balls have done their job well; those who make run-a-ball fifties may only invite defeat. Spinners who turn the ball away from the bat and make cross-batted shots prone to being mis-hit are crucial. Medium-pace bowlers whose slower balls never quite arrive elude punishment. Net bowlers almost delivering from a standing start without benefit of a run-up suddenly claim wickets because their opponents are forced to take them on.

These austere bowling crafts will potentially make some players rich. Others are likely to miss out. Monty Panesar, who, when not beset by self-doubt, is arguably the finest English exponent of finger spin for 40 years, appeared only three times this summer for Northamptonshire in the format. The club’s single-minded assembly of Twenty20 talent meant that only two British-born cricketers gained a place in one of their games. Panesar had overall figures of one for 59 in six unfortunate overs.

But most spinners, bowling tight and full to a field of five men in the deep, restrict batsmen to singles and undo them when they strike for glory. It is not easy to hit a low, slow-moving object for six. The only answer sought by teams without spinners has been to shorten boundaries, enabling miscued slogs to clear the field.

The beneficiaries of Twenty20 are often a surprise. Simon Marshall, a novice wrist spinner, has taken 32 first-class wickets at 66.72 yet is integral to Lancashire’s attack. Of medium pacers, Richard Pyrah and Daryl Mitchell were match-winners for Yorkshire and Worcestershire respectively this year, but had taken only a dozen first-class scalps between them. And Jim Allenby, the marketable all-rounder who returned two five-wicket hauls for Leicestershire, could not break into first-class cricket in his native Australia.

The median first-innings score this season was 167; as many teams lost posting fewer than that as won posting more. With 20 overs to hammer, upper-body strength, as with baseball sluggers, becomes a boon. When Michael Vaughan played for Yorkshire he resembled a classical actor lost in a film by Quentin Tarantino. Like Panesar’s, his eloquence may soon be outmoded.

Twenty20 Cup quarter-finals

Today: Riverside: Durham Dynamos v Yorkshire Carnegie (5.10).
Chelmsford: Essex Eagles v Northamptonshire Steelbacks (7.40).

Tomorrow: Brit Oval: Middlesex Crusaders v Lancashire Lightning (5.40).

Wednesday: Edgbaston: Warwickshire Bears v Kent Spitfires (5.40).

July 26: Southampton
Semi-finals (12.30 and 4.0).
Final (7.15).

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