If Americans were into their cricket, then the Twenty20 format would be any television company's dream.

Just think about it. It's very similar to their favourite past time baseball with all the statistics involved, they will have lots of opportunities to Americanise (sorry, the 's' should probably be a 'z') cricket terminology and the possibilities are endless when it comes to throwing in an ad break at the most inconvenient time.

Of course cricket officials won't care too much about their weird terminology as everyone is keen on getting a foothold in the US market since there could be a lot of potential there, and Twenty20 cricket is probably the best way to catch the interest of not only American viewers but also big corporates. The Indian Premier League's top brass have already made it clear that it's not a question if, but rather when they will head Stateside. The tournament has already mastered the art of advertising with their xyz maximums, carbon copy catches and ads smack bang in the middle of overs.

The IPL, though, will not be planting the first T20 flag in America. That honour goes to the New Zealanders and Sri Lankans who are playing three Twenty20 games in Florida this weekend.

It is the first time that two full-time ICC members are playing in North America. The games will take place at Central Broward County Regional Park Cricket Stadium in Lauderhill. It is the only ICC-approved cricket ground in North America and holds 20,000 people.

While many cricket lovers consider the Twenty20 format "pyjama baseball", I for one would love it if they employ an American commentator to add even further to the entertainment with their different terminology. Of course, some words like Powerplay and Timeout are already part and parcel of the Twenty20 game, but there are heaps of others that you should get used to.

I've had the pleasure (or is that displeasure?) of watching quite a few Major Soccer League games on ESPN (don't get me started on Tommy Smith with a 'y') and some of the words the commentators use are quite confusing.

Goalkeepers are goaltenders, a red card is an ejection, a penalty is a PK (always good, those abbreviations), a half is called a period and clean sheets are known as shutouts.

Best we look ahead, then, at the terminology we can expect to hear over the weekend:

Assist: There has to be an assist in American sport and we assume you would be 'rewarded' with one should you put in a dive on the boundary, pop the ball to your mate and he runs someone out with a direct hit.

Attacking zone: The area that the batsman tends to favour.

Batter's box: The crease.

Base: The non-striker's end.

Bullpen A random spot on the field where a bowler (usually the fast bowlers) warm up before they start off their spell.

End line: The boundary ropes.

Face-off: The toss between the two captains.

Foul ball: A no-ball or wide.

Stumps tender: The wicketkeeper.

Home run: A six or (insert random company who is sponsoring the event here) maximum.

Offence and defence: We assume the batting side will be the team on the offence and the bowling team are on the defence (see one's looking to score runs while the other is looking to defend what they have or restrict someone)

Receiver: The fielder.

Roster: The different squads.

Rush defence: When the players inside the circle all take a few steps in when the bowler is about to deliver.

Shut out: A maiden over.

Side retired: A team is all out.

Slugger: Good old-fashioned slogger.

Stolen bases: Overthrows.

Sudden-death overtime: When the game goes into a Super Over following a draw.