T20 masterclass

As regular readers will know, I have written a lot over recent months about T20 batting and my thoughts on Usman Khawaja in the format.

For new readers, I never felt that Khawaja was a good pick for T20 for a variety of reasons. First and foremost was that he hasn't played much of it. Second was the fact that when he has played he has not looked especially adept at the format. That was partly because he isn't physically strong enough to muscle the ball away for boundaries when the bowlers are dropping it near, or into the blockhole, but mainly because rotation of the strike wasn't one of his strong points.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that Khawaja is a bad player, as anyone who saw his two priceless innings against Hampshire will vouch for. Yet the secret of T20 is to pretty much score off every ball, even the good ones and keep the score ticking over with good placement and running.

As I've written previously, Simon Katich, Marcus North, Chris Rogers and a few more aren't T20 players either, all for similar reasons, yet all have been outstanding players over the past ten to fifteen years. They are all of similar build and none of them seem to have mastered the format, often getting out when they're trying to force the pace.

A good T20 batting display needs a player who can effectively play through the innings and, while keeping an end going, score quickly enough to enable the score to mount. Watching Jacques Kallis and Sachin Tendulkar in the format is an object lesson in how it should be done. Both are mature, sensible cricketers who quickly assess match situations and know what they need to do and when to do it. If someone is going well at the other end, they give them plenty of the strike; if ten an over are needed, they aim for a boundary early in the over and take pressure off.

A classic example of T20 batting came today in the Champions League T20. Jacques Rudolph is another who wouldn't be some people's first choice of a T20 player, but an average of 33 in it is very, very good. Rudolph played an admirable role as sheet anchor, ensuring that he was there at the end of the innings and that his team posted a total that at the very least would be challenging.

Of course, 83 runs from 59 balls is hardly the batting of a slouch and the South African left-hander played some delightful shots and displayed keen improvisational skills. While the Titans lost their way a little at the end of the innings (and new batsmen didn't use a little savvy and get Rudolph on strike) their tally looked more than enough after four overs of the Scorchers reply. I'm not sure that such a name, with Messrs North and Katich (23 from 28 balls) in the side, is especially apposite and once Herschelle Gibbs went it was pretty much all over.

I would love to see someone play that sort of innings for Derbyshire in T20. Martin Guptill is capable of doing so, but the chances of seeing him in 2013 must be somewhat slim. Someone like Rudolph would be superb, but again, the player and his country's international commitments look to legislate against it, as they do for so many stars of the world game.

We can only hope that Billy Godleman was watching...

One final point in closing today. How is it a Champions League when around half the sides in it aren't actually champions and four come from India? I accept that "International club teams that are good at T20, some of them better than others League" doesn't roll off the tongue, but this competition name is as silly as the Champions League at football.

But nowhere near as silly as the World Series at baseball, where only American teams compete...

Have a good weekend. Let's see what news next week brings.