The origin of Twenty20 Cricket can be traced back to late 1990s, when the T20 Cup was launched by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

Twenty20 Origin

Twenty20 is one of the latest forms of the cricket game, with origin that can be traced back to the late 1990s and early 2000s. A shortened format of cricket, meant to be played at the professional level, T20 took birth in the form of an idea, which was discussed by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 1998 and then again, in 2001. However, the idea started taking a concrete shape only in the year 2001. As the Benson & Hedges Cup (B&H Cup) was coming to an end, ECB felt the need for another one-day competition, as a replacement.

It was Stuart Robertson, the marketing manager of the ECB, who came up with the proposal for a 40-over game, with 20 overs per innings. He presented the concept formally in 2001, to the county chairmen. Apart from filling the space that would be emptied by culmination of B&H Cup, the new form of cricket also looked to be the perfect way to boost the game's popularity. It seemed to be the best option to win back the interest of the younger generation and thus, the declining sponsorship.

The 20-over innings was conceived with the aim of providing a new, stimulating form of cricket, which could hook the thousands of fans that had been put off by the longer versions. After the proposal of Stuart Robertson, the county voted and the votes were 11-7, 11 in favor and 7 against the new game. After Stuart’s proposal was accepted, a media group was asked to think upon a suitable name for the game. Not much time later, Twenty20 became the name of the new cricket format, afterwards abridged as T20 cricket.

It has been claimed that a format similar to Twenty20 was conceived by Dr George Christos, a mathematician from Perth, Western Australia. He even alleges that he presented it before the ICC and ECB in 1997. However, no credit was given to him when T20 was made public, as ICC dismissed his involvement in developing the final concept. The formal introduction of T20 Cricket took place in 2003, when ECB launched the Twenty20 Cup, along with slogan “I don’t like cricket, I love it”.