Darren Sammy, Shahid Afridi criticise the NatWest T20 blast format
Darren Sammy and Shahid Afridi, two men who have played Twenty20 all over the globe have criticised the format of the Natwest T20 blast. Their criticism echoes the sentiments of England's limited over wicket-keeper Jos Buttler, who too questioned the format and the scheduling of the tournament.
"It's frustrating for the players and the fans that we don't have a competition like the IPL," Buttler said in an interview with Daily Mail. "It feels as if our domestic players are missing out. After all, we did create Twenty20, but we've not taken it on.
Buttler had also said that the tournament should be held in a block to attract the best talent from all over the globe, which will eventually benefit English Cricket.
Darren Sammy also believed that the scheduling of the tournament makes it difficult for players to maintain their form and sustain their focus.
"It's a difficult tournament, at least three months, it's long," Sammy told ESPNcricinfo. "It can be frustrating playing one or two games every weekend. It's Twenty20, you've got to be playing it fast.
In order to attract the audience, the English Cricket Board has scheduled all the T20 matches over the weekends. This is then sandwiched between the Royal London One Day tournament and the County Championship. The players have been finding it difficult to transform their game so suddenly and hence there have been few complaints.
Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi too believed that the tournament should be more compact.
"I've already talked to a few officials, that we should organise it and finish it in a month. It's not easy playing one game then a four-day game then another T20, but as a professional cricketer, you can adjust yourself."
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Both Darren Sammy and Shahid Afridi are playing for Hampshire. They played a game over the weekend after which many players went on to play County and One Day Domestic Tournaments. The next T20 game will only be over the next weekend.