HAMPSHIRE scorer Vic Isaacs has enlisted the help of the county's 2nd XI scorer to cope with the "hectic" demands of the Twenty20 Cup.
Billed as "twice the action in half the time", the Twenty20 Cup begins life at The Rose Bowl in front of the Sky TV cameras tomorrow.
And Vic, who is in his 29th season as Hampshire's scorer, will be joined in the scorers' box by Tony Weld to ensure everything runs smoothly.
He said: "It's going to be a bit hectic so Tony is going to help. We've also got the PA announcements as well as updating the computer to do so it will be handy to have an extra pair of hands because it's going to be fast and furious.
"Nobody's going to stop for us and as the official scorers we can't afford to mess up, but Tony and I have a lot of experience between us.
"I've been scoring for Hampshire for 29 years and Tony has been scoring for 25, we're the most experienced scorers in the country.
"But we're only going to have 90 seconds to do everything between the fall of a wicket and the next ball.
"We have to do a lot when wickets fall and there are going to be all sorts of distractions as well as less time.
"There'll be lots of singing and dancing, players are going to be interviewed as they walk out to the middle, so we will have to make sure that we keep our concentration on the game.
"It's not going to last very long but at the end of it I'm sure it's going to feel like we've done a whole day's play.
"I've never done one of these games before, other than a few 20-over games at club levelk, but this is different.
"Everyone is going to have to be on their mettle, including the umpires and Jim Lark, the scoreboard operator, and the Sussex scorer.
Vic added: "I'm looking forward to it but with a bit of apprehension.
"I wasn't totally convinced by the idea originally. I'm a bit of a traditionalist and the Twenty20 sounded like an abomination when I first heard about it.
"I suppose anything that helps the game attract a bigger audience has to be a good thing but I don't think that it should be called cricket, because it's not cricket as we know it.
"We have Kwik Cricket and I think this should be called Super Cricket."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article