NEW DELHI: After first England and then
Australia rewrote the cricket record books just days apart, some
commentators are warning that a glut of runs risks wrecking the art of
bowling and turning off fans.
Australia cruised to
victory on Tuesday in the first match of a T20 series against Sri Lanka
after spanking 263 runs in their innings, breaking the previous best of
260 scored by their hosts against Kenya in 2007.
The
performance came exactly a week after England posted the highest ever
total in a 50-over international, scoring 444 for three against
Pakistan.
The last fortnight has also seen a new record
for the highest number of runs in a T20 international, with India and
the West Indies totalling a combined 489 runs in a match in Florida on
August 27.
Such run-fests may be great entertainment for spectators, but some commentators say they could end up doing more harm than good.
“Bowlers
are being reduced to bowling machines. It is a terribly one-sided
affair, there is no contest at all,” Indian spin great Bishan Bedi told
AFP.
“I don't mind being hit for a four or a six but it's
being hit so easily and consistently. The charm of true cricket has
been thrown out of the window.”
In a series of tweets
after Tuesday's carnage in Sri Lanka, former India international Sanjay
Manjrekar urged administrators to “respect the intelligence of fans” who
“don't come to watch just 4s & 6s”.
‘Lopsided balance’
“The lopsided balance between bat & ball in T20s must
be monitored” and should not be allowed to “reach ridiculous
proportions”, added Manjrekar, who is now a TV commentator.
Players
past and present say much of the credit for the record-breaking trend
must go to the batsmen who have endlessly raised the bar in terms of
skill, inventiveness and fitness since the advent of T20 cricket at the
beginning of the last decade.
Glenn Maxwell's
match-winning 145 in Pallekele came off just 65 balls and included 14
fours and nine sixes, combining textbook strokes with awesome
power-hitting. England's victory over Pakistan was founded on a
similarly stunning 171 by Alex Hales, the highest score for his country
in an ODI.
Like many of their modern-day counterparts and
team-mates, both men use much heavier bats than those wielded by
previous generations, allowing them to clear the boundary with much
higher frequency.
While there are limitations on bat
length (when the lower portion of the handle is inserted, it cannot be
more than 38in/96.5cm) and width (4.25in/10.8cm at its widest part),
none currently exist on weight.
The International Cricket
Council's cricket committee recommended in June that new restrictions
on the size of bats needed to be brought in, a call that is being heard
ever more widely.
In a speech in July, former Australian
captain Ricky Ponting said he wanted to at least see restrictions in
Test cricket, predicting different rules for different formats.
‘Unbelievably big bats’
Speaking before embarking on the tour to Sri Lanka,
Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood said he was in favour of some kind
of restrictions.
“Some of those cricket bats going
around the dressing sheds at the moment are unbelievably big,” said
Hazlewood, who was rested for the T20s.
Others say that a
glut of batting-friendly pitches is the main reason for the increase in
run-scoring, with Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar among those saying
bowlers need more help from the groundsmen.
“In the
Twenty20 format, even the greatest of the bowlers [are] being
reverse-swept. In one-days, 300 is no more a competitive total. It is a
par total,” Tendulkar was quoted as saying on a recent trip to London.
“You've got to look at changing the surfaces.”
Bedi said the myriad fielding restrictions that have been brought in over the years had all favoured the batsmen.
“All these field restrictions are just gimmicks to see the batsmen go over the top,” he said.
“What
we are doing is really crippling the role of a bowler. The majority of
bowlers, there are exceptions of course, seem to be existing merely as
bonded labour.”
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