Twenty20 / Frank Gregan / 03 October 2011 /

Cricket fanatics can currently tune into the Champions League T20 on British Eurosport for their ongoing fix of leather on willow. And if they do, they may well see Somerset pull off the most unlikely of upsets, says Frank Gregan.

What's happened to the cricket saturation that we've been told is ruining the game? Where's it gone? A whole week has passed since the second T20 game between England and the West Indies finished and a nation of cricket addicts have been suffering cold turkey. There's no action to keep dipping in and out of on the hand-held mobile device, nothing to report when standing around the water cooler and no need to incur the boss's wrath by reading ball by ball updates rather than productivity data on the work PC.

It's not on! There's a whopping ten days until the next fix when England are back in international action against India but this is a global game, there has to be something out there to sate the craving, a sort of cricket methadone. There is, the Nokia Champions League T20 currently being played in India.

It's a real 'who's who' of cricket with New South Wales, Mumbai Indians, Cape Cobras, Chennai Super Kings and Trinidad and Tobago amongst the teams taking part. The reason it's not getting the attention it deserves here in the UK is because it's been shunned by our major TV satellite player and the mainstream terrestrials.

But it is on the box, you'll find it on British Eurosport tucked in somewhere between re-runs of ancient cop dramas and some cheesy sales presenter trying to sell you the vegetable slicer of your dreams. It's worth the search. The weather is throwing the odd spanner in the works but some of the world's best players are in action.

There's a large overseas contingent, seasoned international players from all over the globe with one notable exception, England. The English are represented, but not by their international stars. It's Somerset who progressed through the qualifying stage and are battling it out in Group B. The perennial limited-overs runners-up are a decent county side but with Marcus Trescothick opting not to travel, they have no giants of the English game in their line up.

The purists believe that the fact that they are performing well and don't look out of their depth is to the detriment of the T20 format. This event looks likely to endorse what we already know: that no matter how much we love it, the T20 format isn't long enough to enable the cream to rise to the top.

At the weekend, the mighty Chennai Super Kings were humbled on their normally impregnable own patch by Trinidad and Tobago. Giants of the game such as Mike Hussey, Albie Morkel, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Doug Bollinger were knocked over by two tiny islands from within the greater mess that is the West Indies!

This format is no respecter of reputations. It's been proven on countless occasions that there is no room for patience and feeling one's way in at the crease. Similarly, the best fast bowlers in the world are not feared. Cow corner is much easier to hit with an agricultural swipe when there is pace on the ball! It's all about who performs and who gets lucky during the three hour window.

Don't be lulled into looking at the team-sheets and writing off the chances of the lesser lights. T20 is a great leveller and there's every chance that there could be a shock in store. That's reflected in the betting with only the Mumbai Indians [6.2] a shorter price than Somerset, the minnows from the English West country at [7.8].

Can Somerset pull it off and wallow in Champagne rather than Cider? If it happens it will add strength to the traditionalists' argument that the shortest format of the game is nothing other than a lottery that requires about the same amount of skill as a coin toss.

Perhaps they're right, but it is a source of superb entertainment and mind-numbing shocks. There could be another one on the way. Zummerset - the greatest provincial team in the world - unbelievable!

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