Let me just put this out here right now at the beginning of our international cricket season: I don’t like T20 cricket. I can barely muster up the energy to get emotional about 50-over cricket at the best of times, but when it comes to T20 I can honestly say that I usually regard the result as completely meaningless.

Take note that I type these words right at the start of this particular game, so I’m not being a sore loser – if, in fact, South Africa are destined to lose this game – but realistically, there’s just so much of this slap-and-giggle T20 stuff on our screens that it’s just not that special anymore.

Me, I blame the IPL. Just like I blame SANZAR for ruining the uniqueness of test rugby by attempting to force feed us giant oversized helpings of international contests via extended versions of the New-And-Improved™ Super XV and the New-And-Improved™ Tri-Nations/Four Nations (or whatever the hell it’s going to be called next year). Too much of a good thing is, well, just too much.

Don’t get me wrong, I get it – T20 is a massive money-spinner for all concerned: players, franchises, advertisers, broadcasters and so on, but as an avid cricket fan I hold the fiery cauldron of test cricket above all other formats of the game as a true measure of an individual’s nerve and ability, where pressure is measured in hours and the dramas within the matches take weeks to unfold across 2 months’ worth of test matches in a series.

I only need one example to illustrate my point: Chris Gayle. As a T20 player he is rightfully feared, able to pick up runs in the middle faster and more ferociously than he could if he’d wolfed down an extra spicy vindaloo purchased from a roadside vendor in a back-alley in Mumbai. As a test cricketer though, he tends to float somewhere between barely above average and downright piss-poor, and as such will not be remembered as a great cricketer. Basically, he’s Herschelle Gibbs with a Bob Marley soundtrack and a set of corn-rows: all flair and promise but very little else of substance given the undoubted immense talent he has.

T20 for me is effectively a dumping ground for ex-internationals cashing in on their fading stars for a payday before their inevitable hip replacements are due, like Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist, and one-trick-pony cricketers like David Warner and Loots Bosman who simply don’t possess the talent or the mental abilities to succeed in longer versions of the game. Don’t get me wrong, MS Dhoni and Jacques Kallis also play T20 very successfully, but why would I get excited about watching players of that calibre slog for 5 overs when I can potentially watch them bat to the full extent of their considerable talents all day in a test match?

There are only 2 reasons I’m actually watching this game: a) this is South Africa against Australia, which as a South African is as big as it gets in cricket terms, and b) I’m interested to see what form the more prominent role players in the rest of tour are in at this early stage of the season.

I’ve heard it said that T20 results help create momentum and a winning habit early in a tour, and add extra pressure to the team on the wrong side of those abbreviated contests, but come on, really? I find it hard to believe that Ricky Ponting will be pooping himself when he comes out to bat in the first test because they lost the T20 series a month prior to that.

For the record, South Africa batted first and had a wobbly start losing both openers within the first 3 overs – first Graeme Smith for a duck in the first over and then captain Hashim Amla was run out in the third over off a smart piece of fielding from David Warner at wide long-on. Next men in Colin Ingram and JP Duminy settled the ship a bit, with the latter in particular looking in scintillating form until eventually succumbing to the bowling of Pat Cummins for 67 off 53 balls, and ably supported by Ingram’s 33 off 28 balls.

The loss of 4 wickets in the last 2 overs curbed the Proteas’ ability to capitalize on Duminy and Ingram’s rescue job, and they ended up on 146 for 7, about 20 or 30 runs short of what they would’ve regarded as a competitive target.

This was never going to be enough though, and ultimately the Australians chased it down with half an over to spare.

Notwithstanding the early loss of David Warner to a run out from a brilliant direct hit from Morné Morkel, Australia was never in any trouble chasing down the required runs either, with Shane Watson laying down the foundation at the top of the order with 52 runs off 39 balls. Skipper Cameron White (28 off 22 balls) partnered by David Hussey (25 off 27 balls) put the result beyond doubt as the lower middle order came in to pick up the last couple of runs, never having to deal with a run rate of more than 7 runs per over in the closing stages of their innings, which in this format of the game is a stroll.

All this leaves us with is having to deal with another loss to an Australian sports team in the space of 5 days, but being that this is a T20 game the result will probably be forgotten by tomorrow lunch time anyway.

At least Bryce Lawrence won’t be putting in an appearance as an umpire anytime this summer.