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What is the point?

audioman

By audioman
in Cricket Talk

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audioman Newbie

audioman

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Over 600 runs were scored on that track yesterday. Over 800 were scored on an even worse track in SA not too long ago. What is the point of these games? To wear the bowlers down? To further boost the alread-bloated egos of batsmen? Cricket is supposed to be a contest between bat and ball, but such pitches do not help the cause. Admittedly, ODI cricket's sole purpose is spectator-interest. But what excites a spectator more are last-ball finishes, not some team racking up a huge score and the rest of the contest being rendered into a farce due to the sheer pressure of the RRR. Why should any fast bowler even bother about having to turn up for such matches, let alone run in and bowl fast? As an opening batsman myself, I shudder to think I could score a hundred, come back to the dressing room and still have doubts over whether I am good enough.

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yoda Newbie

yoda

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Re: What is the point? Well, the one with over 800 runs is hailed as the greatest ODI match ever. And were you bothered when the 800 run-fest happened, or is it bothering you only because a very entertaining ODI happened in a lowly sub-continental country?

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Lurker Newbie

Lurker

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Re: What is the point?

Over 600 runs were scored on that track yesterday. Over 800 were scored on an even worse track in SA not too long ago. What is the point of these games? To wear the bowlers down? To further boost the alread-bloated egos of batsmen? Cricket is supposed to be a contest between bat and ball' date= but such pitches do not help the cause. Admittedly, ODI cricket's sole purpose is spectator-interest. But what excites a spectator more are last-ball finishes, not some team racking up a huge score and the rest of the contest being rendered into a farce due to the sheer pressure of the RRR.
The easy answer is that there is no point. The batting tracks, coupled with small boundaries, heavy bats etc. have ensured that today's batsman stand far better chance than his counterparts few years back. Someone like Ricky Ponting who comes to bat the same position as Viv Richards(number 3) scores a century every 12 games, while Viv did that every 17 games. Bear in mind that Viv is widely acknowledged as the greatest one day batsman ever, challenged only by Sachin. If you look at the records of 80's and even early 90's you would see most greats, if not all, having 5 centuries or under. Today every Tom, Dick and Astle has three times that number. xxxx
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audioman Newbie

audioman

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Re: What is the point?

That 800+ game was only good because the unlikely total got chased down.
I guess, we should also add in the fact that the best side in the world, Aus, got beat. That was another factor I'd think. Interestingly, the games that have been proclaimed as "greatest ever" in recent times, have all had one thing in common - Aus lost em all.
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Mr. Wicket Newbie

Mr. Wicket

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Re: What is the point?

how did the 800+ run "no point" game then become the greatest ODI ever?
Because of media hype and idiocy and amazement to a new precedent being set. A decade or so from now, a game like the 434/437 will be fairly commonplace. For that matter, a couple of months after that Wanderers ODI, Sri Lanka were set a target of over 320 to chase at Leeds in a game against England. Jayasuriya and Tharanga belted somewhere in the region of 280 together at a spectacular run rate (score after 10 overs: 133/0), and they chased the total down with about ten overs to spare. Not many batted an eye at it - shows how desensitised the cricketing world is becoming to these sorts of big hitting games. (Or maybe nobody was surprised that England lost it :D) For my money, there have been far superior games played to that Wanderers ODI. Aus/India in Sharjah in 98 - the desert storm game - was one. The volume of runs wasn't anywhere near the Joburg ODI, simply because there was far less slogging and conditions were not as horribly loaded in favour of batsmen, but Bevan in the first innings produced what should have gone down as one of his finest ODI innings - beautifully paced, with some incredible shots and a definition of how to bat on a slow pitch against bowlers like Kumble. Then Tendulkar produced a gem to top it and make sure it'd be forgotten. Give me Bevan and Sachin over the likes of Johan van der Wath and Symonds slogging Mick Fucking Lewis and Roger Telemachus in an ODI any day. For tense results, the WC 99 semi between SA/Aus was a far better game - some exceptional batting from the likes of Bevan and Klusener, some stunning bowling by Donald and Warne, and a real contest between bat and ball.
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Mr. Wicket Newbie

Mr. Wicket

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Re: What is the point?

yeah I was also curious to find out what was the point of the Antigua Recreation Ground ... where bowlers were killed over 5 Days instead of just one day .....
1. To bring out of form batsmen back to form. 2. To get big scores from in-form batsmen. 3. To keep the Windies from losing even when they hit rock bottom. No matter how bad they got, they usually be assured of a draw at the very least at the ARG, because they couldn't be bowled out there.
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Anakin Newbie

Anakin

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Re: What is the point?

yeah I was also curious to find out what was the point of the Antigua Recreation Ground ... where bowlers were killed over 5 Days instead of just one day .....
1. To bring out of form batsmen back to form. 2. To get big scores from in-form batsmen. 3. To keep the Windies from losing even when they hit rock bottom. No matter how bad they got, they usually be assured of a draw at the very least at the ARG, because they couldn't be bowled out there.
:lmao: :lmao: May also be the only way to prevent public gesturing by Lara
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jf1gp_1 Mentor

jf1gp_1

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Re: What is the point? oh yaar when they prepared bowler friendly tracks during CT you criticised them, now its a batsman track again you are ready with a pole. Besides there is only one team which is allowing us to score over 300 runs so why should we miss the oppertunity.

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