Boys and Girls Play Separately. Their Runs Decide One Winner — Test Twenty, cricket’s new format, debuts in Colombo on November 14, with 160 young cricketers and boys’ and girls’ scores combining to decide one winner..
IMAGE: South African cricket legend AB de Villiers is on the advisory board of Test Twenty. Photograph: Johns/X
Key Points
- Test Twenty, a new mixed-gender cricket format, will debut in Colombo from November 14-29, featuring boys’ and girls’ teams whose scores combine for a single result.
- The inaugural tournament will include 160 cricketers aged 13-21, divided into four continental teams, each with 20 girls and 20 boys.
- Matches will be played over 80 overs in a single day, with the first 40 overs in daylight with a red ball and whites, and the latter 40 under floodlights with a white ball and coloured clothing.
- The format introduces a ‘Parity Rule’ where runs from one group directly contribute to the other’s match result, and the toss determines which gender’s match plays first.
- Test Twenty founder Gaurav Bahirvani, supported by an advisory board including AB de Villiers and Matthew Hayden, aims to create a new ecosystem for young cricketers where performances are equally valued.
A new format of cricket, Test Twenty, will make its debut at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in Colombo from November 14 to 29, bringing together boys’ and girls’ teams whose scores will combine to determine a single result. The inaugural tournament of “cricket’s fourth format” will feature 160 cricketers aged 13 to 21, selected from across the world and divided into four continental teams.
Tournament Structure and Rules
Each team will have a squad of 40 players, comprising 20 girls and 20 boys. In every match, the girls’ XI will play against the girls’ XI, while the boys’ XI will face the boys’ XI. However, the runs scored by both sides will be added to a single team total, with the combined score deciding the winner. The format will introduce a different approach to the toss. Besides deciding which team bats first, it will determine whether the girls’ or boys’ match takes place first. Under the format’s Parity Rule, the runs scored by one group will contribute directly to the result of the other group’s match, according to the press release.
Each match will be played over 80 overs in a single day. The first 40 overs will be played in daylight with a red ball and players wearing whites, while the remaining 40 overs will take place under floodlights with a white ball and players in coloured clothing. Scores will carry forward across both sessions, with no reset between them. The tournament will open with a ceremony on November 14, while the final is scheduled for November 29. November 30 has been designated as a reserve day. All matches will be broadcast live on Sony Sports Network.
Global Selection and Vision
Notably, thousands of young cricketers from five continents put their names forward. The best of them rose through trials on the ground and online over the last 300 days. From those, the tournament’s Global Selection Committee has chosen the finest. The committee is chaired by Rajkumar Sharma, one of India’s most celebrated coaches. Later this month, the players’ draft names the final 160: 80 girls and 80 boys, the founding batch of Test Twenty.
With an advisory board of AB de Villiers, Matthew Hayden and Sir Clive Lloyd, a Global Selection Committee chaired by Rajkumar Sharma, and operations led by Mike Fordham, Test Twenty has people who have played, coached, and run cricket at the highest level standing behind its youngest players.
Test Twenty founder Gaurav Bahirvani said the tournament aims to create a new cricket format and platform for young players, with boys’ and girls’ performances contributing equally to a team’s result. He expressed gratitude to Sri Lanka Cricket and the SSC for their support in bringing the inaugural tournament to Colombo, describing it as a historic moment for the game.
“A year ago this week, I introduced Test Twenty to the world with AB, Matthew, Sir Clive, Mike and Rohit beside me. It was an idea on paper, and a promise to young cricketers everywhere: a format of their own, a tournament of their own, and an ecosystem built around them. On 14 November, that promise walks out for the first time, at the SSC in Colombo. Parity is not only in the rules or the way our game is played. It is in the broadcast.
“Some nights, it will be the girls under the floodlights, in primetime, in front of the world. Other nights, the boys. Every night, one scoreboard,” Bahirvani said in a statement.
“We found the right home for it. Sri Lanka fills a stadium for a ‘schoolboy’ match. No country on earth loves its young cricketers the way this island does. From our very first meeting, the leadership at Sri Lanka Cricket has been very supportive and encouraging. Then the President and Committee of the SSC warmly opened their doors to our young cricketers from every corner of the world. We are deeply grateful to them all. For the first time in the history of the game, girls and boys will win together, or lose together. That moment now belongs to Sri Lanka. We are all going to Colombo,” he added.
