Twenty20 cricket is played over 20 overs according to normal limited-over rules, the one exception being the rule for "timed out", where the time by which an incoming batsman must be at the crease ready to receive his first ball is reduced to 90 seconds after the outgoing batsman has been dismissed. This amendment to the rules helps speed up the game. Additionally, boundary ropes tend to be shorter in Twenty20 cricket than for normal limited over games.
2005 marks the third running of the Twenty20 Cup, which was won by Somerset when they beat Lancashire at the Oval on 30 July. It also saw England play their first Twenty20 International against Australia at the Rose Bowl in Southampton, and winning by 100 runs (see below).
There was also a further development, as Leicestershire won approval from the England and Wales Cricket Board to host an International Twenty20 competition at the end of the season, although they are having to call it 20:20 to get round trademark issues. It will be competed over 15, 16 and 17 September between Leicestershire Foxes, Somerset Sabres, Nashua Titans, a Lashings World XI, the PCA Masters and the Asian XI.
Australian tour PCA Masters XI v Australians (9 June)
The Australians beat the PCA Masters XI by 8 wickets
The 2005 Ashes tour started with the Australians taking on a Professional Cricketers' Association eleven at the picturesque ground at Arundel in a Twenty20 game. A crowd of 11,000 turned up to see the tourists win with one ball to spare, although in practice the result was always clear after an opening partnership of 131 between Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden. The Aussies got an ideal start as Stephen Fleming edged Brett Lee's first delivery to the slips and the Masters XI were 0 for 1, having been put in to bat by Australia. Darren Maddy made 70 in 57 balls and Paul Collingwood (38) and Mark Ealham (39) also scored runs, but the rest of the team made little impression as the PCA Masters XI made 167 for 6. The Aussies lost only two wickets in making their target. (Cricinfo scorecard)
England v Australia (13 June)
England 179/8 (20 overs) England won by 100 runsPD Collingwood 46 (26) GD McGrath 3–31 Rose Bowl, Southampton, England Umpires: NJ Llong (Eng) and JW Lloyds (Eng) Man of the Match: KP Pietersen (Eng) Australia 79 (14.3 overs)JN Gillespie 24 (18) J Lewis 4–24
England started cautiously in the only Twenty20 International against Australia at the Rose Bowl, only hitting six runs off the first two overs as they saw off the bowlers, but Geraint Jones then decided to have fun with Brett Lee. Hitting two boundaries off the next over, Lee was hit for 14, and England moved rapidly to 28 for no loss before Jones cut McGrath to deep third man, where Kasprowicz took a catch on the boundary – out for 19 with four fours. Marcus Trescothick hit a single to end the over, but England were happy enough with 29 for 1 after four overs. Lee's next over was, again, hit for 14, as Lee served up one wide and a no-ball to end with three overs for 31 as singles were taken off every ball. That prompted a bowling change, with Michael Kasprowicz coming on for Australia, and with good reward, as the penultimate ball of his over was caught by Symonds at midwicket – Andrew Flintoff out for 6. Kevin Pietersen managed to scamper a single, and after six overs, England were 50 for 2.
With Jason Gillespie coming on, England continued to take the singles, although the fielding restrictions were off and Australia could stop more of those. However, Michael Clarke at deep backward point handed England three runs in the seventh over with a misfield. Pietersen continued to dominate the Australian bowling, smashing a four and a two off Gillespie, as England took ten runs off the eighth over. Australia looked clueless – a rare sight – as they continued to give runs away through misfields, and Kevin Pietersen smashed his way to 33 not out off 16 balls – after ten overs, England were 93 for 2, and looking to set a massive target.
The Australian captain Ricky Ponting brought on part-time spinner Michael Clarke to bowl the eleventh over, and got immediate success, when Pietersen launched him to Matthew Hayden on the fifth ball, but England were still 101 for 3 after eleven overs. In the next over, the new batsman Michael Vaughan edged Andrew Symonds' ball to midwicket, and the pressure was suddenly on the English. With Trescothick out for 41 a bit later to an attempted sweep off Symonds, England were suddenly looking down a hole after a fine start, and Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood slowed the scoring, to see England 111 for 5 with six overs to play. However, a slog sweep from Collingwood to end the fifteenth over turned the match again, as it went away for six and England moved to 124 for 5. With Jason Gillespie being brought back, Collingwood led the charge, as England stole seventeen runs off the seventeenth over and wrought control of the game again. Despite Andrew Strauss being bowled by Gillespie for 18, Collingwood hit another two boundaries towards the end of the over, to move onto 42 not out and the team score to 167 for 6. Vikram Solanki was out in the next over for 9, caught by Hussey off McGrath, and on the last ball, Collingwood was caught by for 46. Still, England would be pleased with 179 for 8, the highest score on the Rose Bowl in Twenty20 matches.
Australia started shakily, with Adam Gilchrist playing-and-missing and edging one shot over Andrew Strauss at third man, who miscued the path of the ball, as the Australians got eight off the first over bowled by Darren Gough. With Gilchrist finally taking one liberty too many, an easy catch was given, and Kevin Pietersen took it to remove arguably the most dangerous batsman in this format. On the next ball, Hayden was out, caught by Pietersen for 6. Symonds survived the next ball, but odds had improved for England, as the visitors were now 23 for 2. What followed was an Australian collapse – Michael Clarke went for a golden duck to Lewis, a slightly dubious decision, but that gave the English the needed momentum. Within the next four overs, Australia had lost four more wickets for eight runs, Symonds for 0, Hussey for 1, Ponting for 0, Martyn for 4, and despite a recovery from Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee, the required run rate ran away to 12 an over from the last eleven overs. Jon Lewis finished his spell with four wickets for 24 – a special international debut, even though it was only in a Twenty20 game. Despite a good recovery and a partnership of 36, Gillespie eventually holed out a catch to Marcus Trescothick off the hero of the match, Paul Collingwood, and England headed even further towards a victory. Eventually, McGrath was bowled by Harmison, ending the innings for 79 all out – exactly the same score that England succumbed to in the fourth innings chase against the Australians in the first Test of the last Ashes. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Tsunami Relief game Asian XI v International XI (20 June)
International XI won by six wickets
Despite South African international Shaun Pollock only bowling two of a possible four overs, Brian Lara again using plenty of bowlers as captain of the International XI, the Asia XI were bowled out for 157 thanks to patient bowling from the retired Adam Hollioake, who took three for 16 – the three wickets being a hat-trick of Rahul Dravid, Chaminda Vaas and Anil Kumble. Former Australian batsman Greg Blewett then smashed five sixes in a massive 91 not out, and with good help from Scott Styris who made 39 not out from number six, the International XI won by six wickets. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Twenty20 Cup Matchday one Sussex v Essex (22 June)
Sussex (2pts) beat Essex (0pts) by nine wickets
Essex Eagles collapsed to lose their first match of the 2005 Twenty20 Cup to Sussex Sharks. Winning the toss and batting, Essex quickly made their way to 55 for 1, with Ronnie Irani hitting 34 off 18 balls. But two quick wickets set them back, Andy Flower was then run out, and Mushtaq Ahmed ended their innings with five for 11 from 21 deliveries – as Essex ended all out for 109. In a stately reply, Sussex did not hurry too much, as Matt Prior scored 66 off 50 balls, and 14 extras helped the Sharks past the target after 14.4 overs. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Kent v Surrey (22 June)
Surrey (2pts) beat Kent (0pts) by seven wickets
In front of a full house at Beckenham, Mohammad Akram of the visiting Surrey Lions served up a rare maiden in Twenty20 cricket as Kent Spitfires were tied down to 140 for 8 off their twenty overs, despite Martin van Jaarsveld scoring a fifty. James Benning then made batting easy for Surrey, scoring ten fours and two sixes in a crackling 66. Surrey eventually won comparatively easily, having four overs left when they reached 141 for 3. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Hampshire v Middlesex (22 June)
Middlesex (2pts) beat Hampshire (0pts) by 18 runs
Owais Shah made a good attempt at getting the highest strike-rate of the opening day of Twenty20 cricket, recording 72 runs off only 30 balls to lift Middlesex Crusaders to an unassailable 210 for 6. For Hampshire Hawks, Shane Warne showed somewhat poor captaincy when Zimbabwean all-rounder Sean Ervine was the eighth man to come on to bowl – and then took two for 13 from two overs. New Zealander Craig McMillan, meanwhile, conceded twenty-eight runs from his only over. Despite Nic Pothas scoring 59 off 39 balls, the Hawks were nowhere near keeping up with the required pace, and Middlesex bowler Irfan Pathan was a main cause of that – he took three for 16 from four overs, as Hampshire finished on 192 for 7. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Glamorgan v Somerset (22 June)
Glamorgan (2pts) beat Somerset (0pts) on losing fewer wickets
James Hildreth scored a quick 46 off 26 deliveries at Sophia Gardens as Somerset Sabres set a challenging target of 183 to Glamorgan Dragons. No Glamorgan bowler really had control over the Somerset batsmen, and yet they lost their wickets. A highlight of the innings was the effort of Somerset's No. 9 Gareth Andrew, who smashed three fours in his first three balls and then was bowled with the fourth. In reply, Glamorgan got to 126 for 2 before part-timers Keith Parsons and Hildreth got the better of them and took wickets at a leisure – however, Alex Wharf hung in there with Michael Powell and carried the Dragons to 183 for 8 after the 20 overs were up. The crowd seemed content with the one point and a tie, but the speaker informed the crowd of the actual result, which of course was pleasing to the home side. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Worcestershire v Warwickshire (22 June)
Worcestershire (2pts) beat Warwickshire (0pts) by one run
In the local battle at New Road, Worcestershire Royals eked out a victory over rivals Warwickshire Bears. Graeme Hick and Ben Smith both made big scores, with 67 and 47, and skipper Gareth Batty also made 21 to send Worcestershire to 177 for 7. Warwickshire then collapsed to accurate bowling, losing their entire top order except Jonathan Trott to end up on 68 for 5 – but Michael Powell made 40 not out batting at seven, turning the innings almost back to Warwickshire's favour. In the end, however, they were two runs short, their No. 11 Nick Warren only managing to hit one off the two balls he faced. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Northamptonshire v Gloucestershire (22 June)
Northamptonshire (2pts) beat Gloucestershire (0pts) by 81 runs