Bats have become heavier and better, but the ball has remained the same. So to counter the advantage that the batters get, can the ball be made lighter?
All three types of cricket balls — red, white and pink. Pic/Getty Images
One thing is for sure, watching cricket has never been more fun than it is now. The batting especially, is worth going miles to see. Over the last fortnight, we have seen some of the most exciting and thrilling batting in international cricket. There is nothing that today’s batters can’t do and once they get the green signal, the acceleration in motoring parlance is revving from 0 to 100 in just a few seconds. It’s just a feast for the eyes. What we have seen in Kanpur, then in Delhi, has been mind-blowing . Across the border too, the way England pummelled the Pakistani bowling to rattle up more than 800 runs in treble quick time was simply sensational.
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TV-driven age
What’s even more exciting is that the guys scoring at this frenetic pace are all in their early twenties and so have at least a decade, if not more, to entertain batting lovers. Those last two words have been used advisedly because those in the bowling fraternity will be screaming from the rooftops, not so much only about flat batting pitches, but about the reduction in boundary sizes all over the world. Yes, we are aware that the game has been TV-driven for quite some time now and so advertising support is most essential on TV as well as on the ground. That said, unless the LED boards are pushed right back on the perimeter fence, the boundary size is not going to increase. The authorities need to develop advertising boards with foam padding at the bottom half of the board so that when players attempt the sliding stop and then slide over the rope, the foam padding will save them from injury.
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Poor bowlers
This will enable the LED advertising boards to be pushed right back on the perimeter fence. The size may well increase by a few metres, but many a six attempt could well be caught rather than just popping over the rope. This is just a little bit of levelling the field for the poor bowlers for whom the frustration of seeing even a mishit go over the rope for a maximum would be reduced a little.
The modern bats are also so well made that one doesn’t have to be a well-built, muscular batter to hit the big ones. Bats have changed and become heavier and better too, but the ball has remained the same. So to counter the advantage that the batters get, can the ball be made lighter?
Currently, for the men’s game, the ball weighs five and half ounces and for the women’s game it is five ounces. Would reducing it to four and half ounces or even less, make a difference? It’s worth experimenting. If it does then it will be another bit of help for the bowling fraternity. The lesser weight may also mean lesser fractures of fingers and like. It would be good to ask the captains and coaches of the international teams if they think that the bowlers need to be given a little more consideration about the way the game is going.
There will no doubt be many who will say that it’s the bowling that needs to get better and no other change is needed. Partly true, but make no mistake this is the era for the batters and however good the bowling may be and there are some fabulous bowlers around, the batters will find a way to batter them.
Professional Management Group
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