20-20 Cricket and Rugby sans Referees

As is well known, Twenty-Twenty cricket is an abomination. However, as this year's 20-20 world cup is playing in England at the moment, it is a little hard to avoid it, and, quite frankly, enjoy it on the radio. I did not enjoy, of course, England losing to the 'mighty' Dutch last week, but hearing about Ireland's progress has been enjoyable. I heard the closing stages of their Super8 game against Sri Lanka earlier today; they lost, but only by a handful of runs. And now, as I write, England are in action against India. At Lords. There is contemporary music on the speakers, Indian drums in the crowd and a lot more Indian fans present than English. I reiterate that we are at Lords! Whether it is football, rugby or cricket, one is used to hearing of a sizable English support at any given game, so it is good to hear that the Indian fans are getting behind their team.

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Speaking of rugby, I read recently that in its early days, there were no referees at Rugby Union games. The games were refereed instead by the two captains. Imagine if we did that now. Leicester Tigers under Martin Johnson and Wasps under Lawrence Dallaglio would never get a decision against them! Back in the Victorian age, the book explained, a newspaper reported that the best captains to have were those with broad shoulders and a good oratorical ability. It also mentioned how the captains' teams might make themselves useful by 'interviewing' witnesses to the alleged offence. One can only imagine what being interviewed by a rugby team would have been like!