Publicity

Am I the only one who is wondering about the timing of Twenty20 finals day? It seems to be on the wrong day, and at the wrong time!

By that I mean that the English media are football-crazy and Twenty20 is cricket's small attempt to fight back. So why schedule finals day to happen the day before the Charity Shield - the curtain raiser to the English football season that gets far too much press coverage because of the thirst of football fans who have gone 2 months without their favourite sport? And if you are going to schedule finals day during the football season, surely even the most basic piece of PR thinking would suggest that you schedule the final early enough that the result can be covered in the Sunday papers? The timing of the final not only meant that the final could not be covered as the papers had already gone to press, but it also meant that it was a very late night for some of the kids that the Twenty20 format is meant to enthuse.

What are the chances of the date and match timings being reviewed to gain more exposure for cricket? Pretty near zero if the planning of yesterday's finals day was anything to go by....