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As an avid cricket observer I’ve noticed something very peculiar during the Big Bash League and at the T20 international played in Hobart – the crowd is becoming bored during the shortest version of the game.
On numerous occasions as the camera sweeps the crowd, live viewers can be seen arms crossed, looking at mobile phones, disinterested in what is supposed to be cricket’s most entertaining format.
This concerning behaviour can be largely attributed to the increasing predictability of the short-form game and lack of balance between bat and ball.
Bowler runs in, bowler gets hit for four or six. And so it continues, ball after ball.
The bowler, one half of the cricketing contest that has engaged us all for so long, is being reduced to a mere servant as the rules of short-form cricket continue to favour the batsmen.
Most wickets taken in short-form cricket nowadays are taken purely because of batsman error, not because of bowling brilliance or an uneven wicket. I’m not sure the latter even exist anymore.
Bowlers must grimace as they see the roads prepared for their slaughter as they travel around the world.
Even the two new balls brought in to assist the pacemen have added to the mountain of runs. The balls stay harder for longer, meaning they are easier to clobber over tiny roped-in boundaries such as the 56 metre one at Hobart.
I’ve seen bigger boundaries in backyard cricket for goodness sake!
I haven’t even taken into account the huge, powerful bats that hit longer but weigh less. Or the increasing strength of the professionals who practice six-hitting regularly.
Yet the rules of the short-form game continue to change to benefit the batsmen.
Only four men are now allowed out of the fielding restriction circle in a one-day game; only two during the 15 overs of ‘powerplays’. No wonder bowlers feel they are on death row.
Even Indian captain and wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni is concerned with the direction cricket is headed.
After the one-day series between India and Australia, where scores of 350-plus were chased down with absurd ease, he voiced his concerns about the welfare of bowlers. He felt they may as well use bowling machines given the flat pitches and tiny boundaries.
More concerning than the bowlers (they still get a decent paycheck) is the health and appeal of cricket itself.
Hitting a six was once considered a highly risky move and one that took courage, skill and bravery. Now, if you can’t hit sixes regularly you are no good as a short-form batsman.
There were 22 sixes struck in the Twenty20 international in Hobart and by the end of the match they became boring. Regularity goes hand in hand with monotony after all.
What hope does cricket have if kids become bored in a Twenty20 match? God save Test and one-day cricket if that is the case.
What can be done to bring back the contest between bat and ball though?
Preparing pitches that have something in them for both batsman and bowlers is a start. Fans want to see players earn their runs through sound technique, concentration and determination, not how far they can hit a ball off a flat deck.
Helpful pitches will also encourage bowlers to bowl a good length to extract seam and swing. I think we’ve all had enough of wide yorkers, slower bouncers and the 73 variations of a slower ball that have been invented.
There should be a minimum length for boundaries. This is a hard one to police as so many cricket grounds don’t have the ability to expand but it would be great to see batsmen earn six runs.
Too many times, we see mis-hits and edges sailing for six. An 80-metre minimum would ensure that only clean hits clear the ropes.
Scrap the fielding restrictions. Only allowing four men on the ropes in a one-day game is absurd.
Putting that number back to five or six would see batsmen having to manipulate the field for ones and twos – a lost art – and would also put pressure on the fielding captain to have the right balance of in/out fielders.
Playing less short-form cricket will also make it more appealing. Cricket fans are bombarded with the short-form version and, consequently, are tired of it.
There is nothing quite like the longest version of the game. Test cricket can usually be relied upon to showcase a true contest between bat and ball.
And, after all, isn’t that what cricket is all about?
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