Very few men have experienced cricket in their lifetime from as many perspectives as David Lloyd has. After a decade-long first-class and Test career, Lloyd has been involved in the game as coach, umpire, journalist, author, and continues to be one of the leading voices behind the microphone. After 50 years of close affiliation with cricket, David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd is in India on “a two-week adventure” called the Pepsi Indian Premier League, 2015. On the sidelines of his second IPL match in the commentary box, in Bengaluru, Lloyd shared his thoughts on the tournament and offered his opinion on England Cricket’s stand towards the Twenty20 format. The former England all-rounder also listed out a number of England players who he would like to see in the IPL. What do you make of the IPL after your first up-close experience with the tournament? I have watched it from afar for years. I have watched it develop and evolve. There have been some great points in the tournament. My first experience was in Delhi and the enthusiasm of the crowd was awesome. Just watching people getting into the stadium you could tell that they were in great spirits in the anticipation of seeing their team. That continues inside the ground as well. My second game was in Bengaluru. At the toss the moment you say MS Dhoni is in the house, there is an enormous eruption of noise from the spectators. I think the IPL is a fantastic concept. It continues to attract the best players in the world because of how well they are paid. It is not only great for India but world cricket in general. Commentating from Test matches to the IPL – did you find the transition tough? Test cricket is classical music and T20 is rock-and-roll. It is impact and emotion. You have got to make it rock. In a Test match you can be quite reflective, tell stories, reminisce and get nostalgic. T20 is all action. But commentating on T20s you have to be careful about not going on the high pitch too early, because then you will have nowhere to go. You have to build the tempo and gradually get to the crescendo. In a Test match you have to seize the moment. It could come anytime. One moment you are looking at the crowds and admiring the clear skies, and the next there will be a fantastic passage of play you cannot take your eyes off. In T20s you cannot have any inhibitions; you’ve got to let it rip. Commentating on a Test match is more like drinking fine wine; you savour it slowly and sophisticatedly. T20 is more like drinking beer with tequila shots. Would you like to see more England players playing in the IPL? Well, first, they have to be good enough to get into a franchise. We only have maybe six cricketers who the franchises would be interested in. I am getting a bit technical here but a major reason why we lag behind in the shorter formats of cricket is because we have not grasped bat speed. Going back to the World Cup and here in the IPL, you watch guys like Brendon McCullum and AB de Villiers and you see their bat speed is tremendous. Our batsmen have not grasped it. For that, we need our young players to experience the IPL, but again they have to be good enough. I will give you the name of a batsman who nobody would have heard of even in England – Jordan Clark. I think this kid has got great potential of succeeding in T20 and IPL. I would like to see him here in a franchise; he might play only two matches but get a taste of it and that is what is required. I am not sure that we have a nucleus of cricketers who have the tools required for this format. Which of the current England cricketers you think would really benefit from playing in a tournament like the IPL? Alex Hales at the top of the order, (and) even someone like Joe Root who is an accomplished cricketer in any form, will definitely benefit. Other players who I think would be box office hits are Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes. These two guys could fit in well into any franchise. Eoin Morgan has already been playing in the IPL and I think he should have done much better than he has. Going further down, I mentioned Jordan Clark – and I can bet that nobody in England knows him but I know him and I know what he is capable of. Recently in a league match – and I know it is only league cricket – this guy called Liam Livingstone scored 350 runs in 138 balls. And he doesn’t get a game for his county! I look at him and feel, ‘I would have a punt on him’. There is a guy called Laurie Evans who plays for Warwickshire. Nobody knows him. He can absolutely blitz it. Do any bowlers come to mind? I think Chris Jordan would do really well. He is a good bowler, fields brilliantly and is a belligerent batsman. I wouldn’t involve Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad. Another all-round cricketer who I think would be excellent is Moeen Ali. He’s a batsman who bowls decent off-spin and he would fare pretty well in the IPL. Do you think the ECB need to change their stand on allowing England players to play in the IPL? Our biggest problem is that we are busy playing elsewhere while the IPL is on. The tournament is in full flow here and the England team is in the West Indies. The CLT20 coincides with the last phase of our domestic championship back home. So, even if the English teams make it to the CLT20, they come here without some of their key players. We have to find a solution to this situation. Sit all the concerned parties in one room and work out a system that is beneficial to everybody involved. If we can have a five-week window for the IPL, that would help. But our domestic season spans from April to September and for that window to be created, the domestic season would have to be halved, which is not going to happen. So, you have to find a compromise. I know that the ECB is looking to revamp the structure in 2016. Our new Chief Executive and Chairman will be sitting down with commercial partners and television companies to discuss how we can maximize global events. There should be a will within the governing bodies to work out a way that benefits the game and the players. Do you think England’s mindset towards Twenty20 as a format on the whole needs to change first? Twenty20 is a fantastic concept. We have not got there yet in the UK. We do (play) Twenty20 cricket but it is not concentrated into a fine package. It drags on for three months and thus loses its impact. Another thing is that watching cricket in the UK is quite expensive. I know the cost of living is lower in India but still a minimum of 200 rupees for a ticket is quite affordable. You get to see the best players in the world for three hours for that amount. I think it is bloody good. We have a Twenty20 Finals day where we play three T20s in a day. It is the shortest format but the longest day of cricket of the year. It is ridiculous. The one thing that everybody needs to understand is that cricket is not a big sport in the UK. Football is the king and cricket is not even the queen. Cricket is vying for attention against football, rugby and horse racing, and for that you have to present and package the game well to the masses.