Better bats, power hitting and shorter boundaries- are they destroying cricket as we know it?

[hassan_113]

When I first started watching cricket in 1992, it was all about test cricket and the World Cup. The ODI matches were exciting but only finals in multi-national (i.e. more than 3) tended to create real excitement. Nowadays there are too many meaningles ODIs- why do India play 7 ODIs v England?! Also, tests need to be played minimum 3 tests and big series should be 5 tests. Back then a score of 250-260 was excellent and one would rarely see 300 scored in 50 overs. However, nowadays with the advent of 20-20, batting-friendly wickets, better bats and shorter boundaries means that scores are now regularly greater than 300 and totals of greater than 300 can often be chased down with ease on batting-friendly wickets. There used to be an art in the likes of Javed Miandad, Neil Fairbrother and Michael Bevan in being really innovative especially in the middle overs by rotating the strike and it was a real art form and something subtle but wonderful to watch. Nowadays, people are mis hitting sixes in the middle overs and I can't think of many great artists/nudgers who can play that kind of game. The bowlers are getting disheartened and I for one would advocate better cricketing wickets world-over. The only pitches I like are in SA where the batsman and bowlers have an equal chance of doing well. Even in Australia, the pitches are like pancakes. Asia is known for flat wickets, but surely there is nothing wrong with a bit of pace and bounce in it- this would suit batsmen and bowlers, wouldn't it? Anyhow, I don't particularly enjoy the way the game is going. I think instead of the Tendulkars, Laras, Azhars, Mark Waughs and Anwars who were all glorious to watch and great timers of the ball, we are going to see a generation of sloggers. This does not really bode that well for the game and when I see record broken etc, I don't think it is due to sheer brilliance compared to past eras.

[flamy]

Atul Sharma

[hassan_113]

I've never heard so much hype given to a young cricketer.

[Shane]

So-Fail Khan.

:haha:

[EnterTheVoid]

:haha: Wow. Thats a pretty pesimmistic view for what is pretty exciting times in cricket Make the distinction between "cricket" and "politics of cricket"

[Show_stopper]

:hysterical: You only say that because your team is incapable of doing it.. LOL @ So-Fail Khan.By their standards Atul has hardly received any attention. Guys believe it or not..this hassan fella was arguing with me the other day about how So-Fail is phaster than Ishant!!:giggle:

[fineleg]

1. Pitches need to be such that there is something in it for the bowlers (even in ODIs). It does not have to be low scoring games, but pitches with something for the bowlers will make it more interesting. 260 runs should be a good total in ODIs. 280 really good, and 300 brilliant batting. 2. Shorter boundaries is just crap. ICC should enforce stricter standards here. 3. Abolish the "Free Hit" rule.

[punjabi_khota]

1. Pitches need to be such that there is something in it for the bowlers (even in ODIs). It does not have to be low scoring games, but pitches with something for the bowlers will make it more interesting. 260 runs should be a good total in ODIs. 280 really good, and 300 brilliant batting. 2. Shorter boundaries is just crap. ICC should enforce stricter standards here. 3. Abolish the "Free Hit" rule.

Baap ka raaj hai ke pitches should be like this and that. Don't you think soil/geography has to do anything with the pitches ? You cannot have bouncy pitches in subcontinent no matter what you do. Atmost, you can hope that they leave some grass on so that seamers have a decent chance. Free hit is good, the number of no-balls have gone down.

[h4te]

So-Fail Khan.

:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

[hassan_113]

:hysterical: You only say that because your team is incapable of doing it.. LOL @ So-Fail Khan.By their standards Atul has hardly received any attention. Guys believe it or not..this hassan fella was arguing with me the other day about how So-Fail is phaster than Ishant!!:giggle:

LIAR I've never seen Khan bowl yet! *perplexed* Keep cricket and politics aside. Anyhow, to the 2 guys with good responses- thanks.

[rahulrulezz]

When I first started watching cricket in 1992, it was all about test cricket and the World Cup. The ODI matches were exciting but only finals in multi-national (i.e. more than 3) tended to create real excitement. Nowadays there are too many meaningles ODIs- why do India play 7 ODIs v England?! Also, tests need to be played minimum 3 tests and big series should be 5 tests. Back then a score of 250-260 was excellent and one would rarely see 300 scored in 50 overs. However, nowadays with the advent of 20-20, batting-friendly wickets, better bats and shorter boundaries means that scores are now regularly greater than 300 and totals of greater than 300 can often be chased down with ease on batting-friendly wickets. There used to be an art in the likes of Javed Miandad, Neil Fairbrother and Michael Bevan in being really innovative especially in the middle overs by rotating the strike and it was a real art form and something subtle but wonderful to watch. Nowadays, people are mis hitting sixes in the middle overs and I can't think of many great artists/nudgers who can play that kind of game. The bowlers are getting disheartened and I for one would advocate better cricketing wickets world-over. The only pitches I like are in SA where the batsman and bowlers have an equal chance of doing well. Even in Australia, the pitches are like pancakes. Asia is known for flat wickets, but surely there is nothing wrong with a bit of pace and bounce in it- this would suit batsmen and bowlers, wouldn't it? Anyhow, I don't particularly enjoy the way the game is going. I think instead of the Tendulkars, Laras, Azhars, Mark Waughs and Anwars who were all glorious to watch and great timers of the ball, we are going to see a generation of sloggers. This does not really bode that well for the game and when I see record broken etc, I don't think it is due to sheer brilliance compared to past eras.

well said Hassan... i dont know what happened to Australian pitches...Perth used to be a nightmare for the batsmen but look now..jus another ordinary pitch... and to make it worse, 'Lords', mother of all grounds, is the flattest pitch ...even the likes of Agarkar and Kumble had a century there

[graphic23]

well said Hassan... i dont know what happened to Australian pitches...Perth used to be a nightmare for the batsmen but look now..jus another ordinary pitch... and to make it worse' date=' 'Lords', mother of all grounds, is the flattest pitch ...even the likes of Agarkar and Kumble had a century there[/quote'] Correction: Kumble scored a century at the Oval. Also, this has more to do with the England attack than the flatness of the pitch.

[f.b.m]

I wouldnt particularly mind if the higher scores in the limited over formats are what they are because of better hitting techniques and appropriate training but I really doubt that those are the big causes. More than the flat pitches or (percieved) lack of bowling talent, I think its the better bats and shorter boundaries that kill the odi game. In many of the sixes that were hit in the Ind-Nz odi series, you could see the bat turning and twisting, the ball coming off the bottom of the bats, etc, etc and still going all the way. Whats more, they have created the careers of despicable meatheads like Matthew Hayden. Another thing that I really dont like (this has been going on since a long time tho) is that so many outfields are actually very large billiard tops and the Ganguly and Ranatunga wannabes flourish. If this keeps going on we might end up having 10 dadajis and one draupadi in the side.

[diegovegaz]

i would rather have low scoring matches the pitches should a top class green cover something like what was witnessed in a ranji trophy match in delhi's feroz shah kotla more than 20 wickets falling on a single day

[the_mokc]

Baap ka raaj hai ke pitches should be like this and that. Don't you think soil/geography has to do anything with the pitches ? You cannot have bouncy pitches in subcontinent no matter what you do. Atmost' date=' you can hope that they leave some grass on so that seamers have a decent chance. Free hit is good, the number of no-balls have gone down.[/quote'] south asia can also have bowler friendly pitches if they make stadiums in north like darjeeling,dehradun,srinagar, cuz the soil composition in these areas is different to the one in mayb chennai or mumbai. they used to have bowling pitches in quetta in pakistan untill the taliban took over those stadiums :hysterical:

[punjabi_khota]

south asia can also have bowler friendly pitches if they make stadiums in north like darjeeling' date='dehradun,srinagar, cuz the soil composition in these areas is different to the one in mayb chennai or mumbai. they used to have bowling pitches in quetta in pakistan untill the taliban took over those stadiums :hysterical:[/quote'] Darjeeling,Dehradun,srinagar mein cricket kheloge ? Arre bhai delhi mein seats fill nahi hoti darjeeling mein kya ghanta janta aayegi.

[the_mokc]

Darjeeling' date='Dehradun,srinagar mein cricket kheloge ? Arre bhai delhi mein seats fill nahi hoti darjeeling mein kya ghanta janta aayegi.[/quote'] janta ka paisa mumbai,chennai,banglaore,kolkate mein wasool hota rehta. dehradun aur darjeeling bowling pitches will be good for us in development of pacers and batsman can learn how to counter bouncy pitches. also good for the game

[Nash]

When I first started watching cricket in 1992' date=' it was all about test cricket and the World Cup. The ODI matches were exciting but only finals in multi-national (i.e. more than 3) tended to create real excitement. Nowadays there are too many meaningles ODIs-[b'] why do India play 7 ODIs v England?! Also, tests need to be played minimum 3 tests and big series should be 5 tests. Money involve Back then a score of 250-260 was excellent and one would rarely see 300 scored in 50 overs. TRUE However, nowadays with the advent of 20-20, batting-friendly wickets, better bats and shorter boundaries means that scores are now regularly greater than 300 and totals of greater than 300 can often be chased down with ease on batting-friendly wickets. There used to be an art in the likes of Javed Miandad, Neil Fairbrother and Michael Bevan in being really innovative especially in the middle overs by rotating the strike and it was a real art form and something subtle but wonderful to watch. Nowadays, people are mis hitting sixes in the middle overs and I can't think of many great artists/nudgers who can play that kind of game. The bowlers are getting disheartened and I for one would advocate better cricketing wickets world-over. The only pitches I like are in SA where the batsman and bowlers have an equal chance of doing well. Even in Australia, the pitches are like pancakes. Asia is known for flat wickets, but surely there is nothing wrong with a bit of pace and bounce in it- this would suit batsmen and bowlers, wouldn't it? Anyhow, I don't particularly enjoy the way the game is going. I think instead of the Tendulkars, Laras, Azhars, Mark Waughs and Anwars who were all glorious to watch and great timers of the ball, we are going to see a generation of sloggers. agree This does not really bode that well for the game and when I see record broken etc, I don't think it is due to sheer brilliance compared to past eras.

Wrong because fielding standard is way better than previous ones. One mistake and you are gone. In general you are correct, but if a batsman can score 10k runs in Intenation cricket on any type of condition he is good.. You should see the matches before WW2 they have 500 score minimum, endless timeless boring matches. Today's version is most exciting faster. But because of T20, Now we are looking at the brainless sloggers who just want to hit a ball. But still in NZ, Aus and SA produces good pitches where batsman and bowler have good chance.

[fineleg]

Baap ka raaj hai ke pitches should be like this and that. Don't you think soil/geography has to do anything with the pitches ? You cannot have bouncy pitches in subcontinent no matter what you do. Atmost' date= you can hope that they leave some grass on so that seamers have a decent chance. Free hit is good, the number of no-balls have gone down.http://content.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/398957.html

Atkinson slams dead surfaces Cricinfo staff April 9, 2009 Andy Atkinson: 'The quality of the surfaces might be improving but that doesn't mean the pitches are better for cricket as a whole' © Getty Images Andy Atkinson, the ICC's pitch consultant, has warned that pitches around the world are becoming too batsman-friendly, largely because of the volume of cricket played. Several Test matches this year have been dominated by high-scoring draws, notably in Karachi and Barbados, which produced first-innings totals of 600 and 700. Atkinson believes the increase in one-day and Twenty20 cricket has affected the skill of producing surfaces that promote an even battle. "With the huge amount of one-day and Twenty20 cricket around the world, it seems that some people have forgotten the art of preparing a five-day pitch," he wrote in the May issue of The Wisden Cricketer magazine. "The quality of the surfaces might be improving but that doesn't mean the pitches are better for cricket as a whole. It's about getting the right balance and it is now too far in favour of the batsman. It needs to come back towards the bowler." He highlighted the pitches during the recent West Indies-England series, which produced one positive result in Jamaica before three bat-dominated draws with the run-fest in Barbados proving the most one-sided confrontation. "It was very disappointing to see how bland some of the pitches were during England's recent Test series," Atkinson said. "Most of them are new pitches laid specifically for the World Cup in 2007 and yet they seem to have deteriorated since then." However, Atkinson insisted that the current state of pitches is not coming because of demands from the ICC for similar playing surfaces. "Nothing could be further from the truth," he said. "The ICC wants to preserve the primacy of Test cricket and part of that is having pitches that produce good games, not bore draws. They want pace and even bounce but beyond that they want pitches to retain their local, traditional characteristics like seam in England or spin in India."

Are you going to tell the same thing "Baap ka raaj hai ke pitches should be like this and that" to Atkinson also? And no I'm not asking just bouncy pitches, even if it aids spin bowling it is ok. Just have something for the bowlers also. Atkinson today:

[the_mokc]

Baap ka raaj hai ke pitches should be like this and that. Don't you think soil/geography has to do anything with the pitches ? You cannot have bouncy pitches in subcontinent no matter what you do. Atmost' date=' you can hope that they leave some grass on so that seamers have a decent chance. Free hit is good, the number of no-balls have gone down.[/quote'] remember the pitch in mohali when pakis got bowled out for 80 in CT? where did tht pitch come from. also delhi pitch will now be bouncy for domestic matches where will tht pitch come from. making balling pitch is easy, LEAVE GRASS ON IT.