Where lay the priorities?

Mumbai: The speculations are sweeping the mills and the ‘newsmakers’ are getting excited as Australia embark upon a power-packed summer of cricket that features the ICC World Twenty20 followed by the renowned five-match Ashes Test series.

Despite its newness, the WT20 remains the lone event that dodges Ricky Ponting’s cabinet and an Ashes win on English soil is one more achievement that awaits the 33-year old as captain of Australia, who’s been handed the top job until the 2011 World Cup.

John Buchanan’s ‘Ditch WT20 for the Ashes’ remark has created quite a stir. Was the Queenslander trying to undermine or devalue the World Twenty20? Certainly, history is essential but what about the future of the game? Isn’t that significant enough?

Former England captain Alec Stewart, who knows a thing or two about the cut-throat battle of the Ashes series, feels it is rather uncalled for to give more importance to one series, regardless of the history attached with it – considering the massive popularity and the intensity of the World Twenty20, which took the cricket fraternity by storm in 2007.

“In today’s day and age, each and every form of cricket is equally important. You have to give your best shot at winning everything,” Stewart told cricketnirvana.com

The endlessly growing cricket calendar has raised worries in the minds of top coaches such as Gary Kirsten, Mickey Arthur and John Dyson. However Stewart feels that’s not reason enough for players to skip tournaments and prioritise other series / events.

“Sure, the selectors can decide if a couple of players are more equipped or can specialise in a few formats but you can’t pick and choose events as a player. It’s fine to skip the IPL but international events are very essential.”

There isn’t anything confidential in Aussies not treating the T20 World Championship somewhat sincerely in 2007. Ponting even went on record to say after the event that his team had to ‘start taking the T20 format more seriously’.

However Michael Clarke vows it’s a different story this time around. "Our attitude has changed a lot towards Twenty20. You can see how serious Australia is. The selectors have selected certain players to fly over just for the Twenty20,” Australia’s vice-captain said.

"It is a big deal for us. At the moment we're not the world champions at it and we really want to be.

Stewart opposes Buchanan’s advice to Cricket Australia – to bring Gilchrist, Hayden or Warne out of retirement to captain the Australian side at the event.

“You are not doing yourself justice if you don’t treat a tournament seriously enough, because that’s being unprofessional and your not giving it your best shot. Sure, Ashes has all the history attached but I think we saw glimpses of splendour in 2007 in South Africa. I can foresee the second edition of the event to be even bigger”.

Stewart praised the IPL for promoting the T20 format and allowing players to showcase their skills.

“The IPL has given some of these players a perfect training ground for the event. It has also served as a sort of a trailer for the millions of fans watching at home. It’s a great endorsement for the modern day game.”

England is the place to be this summer if you are a cricket fan.