Lee : Cricket grounds need to be bigger

[amiret]

Brett Lee has credited batsmen for using heavier bats to good effect and said he was not in favour of restricting the depth of the bat. Lee, however, stressed on the need to increase the size of outfields to add balance in limited-overs cricket. "The ICC are being asked about the depth or the width of the cricket bat. Obviously down the front part of the bat there's a legal width which will never change. But the depth or the thickness of the cricket bat, they're asking should there be a limit on that. I think no, I think if you're good enough to be Chris Gayle, or be a big guy, or a David Warner with strong arms to carry a three-pound piece of wood and play effectively, I think that's great," Lee told reporters via video conference from Sydney at the launch of ICC Pro Cricket 2015, a Disney India product which is the official digital game of the 2015 World Cup. With the cricket bats getting chunkier, especially with edges up to two inches, ICC chief executive David Richardson in an interview to ESPNcricinfo had admitted that the balance of the game may have shifted in favour of batsmen. Lee agreed with the solution offered by Richardson. "What I don't agree with is that every single time that we see a one-day game, they bring the boundaries in very close. Now I know that there needs to be a legal three-meter length between the boundary rope and also the grass spots because you don't want to see a player get injured crashing into the fence. But I reckon that they need to make sure that the ground should be as big as possible. So that's the only thing I don't agree with that they keep making the ground smaller when batsmen are getting stronger and hitting bigger sixes." When asked if the minimum distance for boundary being 55 yards from the centre of the wicket should be increased, Lee was non-committal. "I think it's all relative to where you play. So in Adelaide Oval now the square boundary is a bit wider. I've noticed that when you're playing in Sydney sometimes they're bringing the straight boundary a lot closer," Lee said. "They should be pushed back as far as possible that's fair and square. The other thing is they have to make sure they give the bowlers the chance to take wickets too, so the wickets need to be somewhat fair."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/story/826963.html

[amiret]

David Richardson, the ICC chief executive, has conceded that modern bats have

"shifted the balance" in favour of batsmen, especially in limited-overs cricket. The issue, Richardson said, was a growing concern and the ICC has begun to consider remedial steps, the first of which will come during the World Cup where boundary ropes are to be pulled as far back as 90 yards.

"The balance may have shifted a little bit too much because sometimes poor shots or mis-hits are going for six," Richardson told ESPNcricinfo in an extensive interview. "Let us try and rectify that. What we have done up until now is try and maximize the size of the boundary. You will see for the World Cup, most of the grounds in Australia in particular, which allow for big playing surfaces, boundary ropes will be pushed back to at least 90 yards where possible."