The star of this 2015 Cricket World Cup is no individual, but a concept: powerful, free-flowing batting.
In this tournament alone there have been three team totals of over 400 – that’s 20 per cent of the total of 15 in over 3,500 one-day internationals.
Only five players have scored 200 runs in a one-day innings, yet two of them did so during this World Cup.
These selected statistics provide a small insight into global cricket’s dramatic change. This is not just happening in one-day cricket but in all forms and all over the world.
Multiple reasons have been cited as to why batting is taking precedence over bowling: more field restrictions, bigger bats, two new balls, and shorter boundaries have all played a role in the shorter forms of cricket. But this is not just in the shorter form of the game.
This summer, the pitches have been designed for batsman. Fast bowling tyro Ryan Harris said he felt like “a bowling machine”.
One possible reason is the drop-in pitches, but another goes back to 2012, when the curators were berated, by Australian players and coaches, for creating result friendly wickets in Sheffield Shield cricket.
There has been a clear push in all forms of the game towards batting. The reason, summed up nicely by Mr Cricket himself, Michael Hussey, is “Fans and broadcasters and administrators want to see excitement… They want to see fours and sixes being hit.”
Note the three parties mentioned: fans, broadcasters and administrators. Commercially, it makes sense.
Broadcasters are significant financial contributors to sport, in some cases providing over 50 per cent of revenue. More boundaries can lead to more highlights, more replays, and more ways to introduce sponsorship. Just look at how many people are wearing orange for the beer sponsor in the crowd in New Zealand. They are trying to take a one-handed catch off a six.
Better bowling performances will likely lead to more wickets and shorter matches, creating shortfalls of revenue for broadcasters and administrators alike.
However, I question whether fans of cricket actually want to see the dominance of bat over ball. I love a score of 300-plus runs in a 50-over match, it used to be perceived as a pinnacle of batting prowess for a team to score at over a run per ball. However, when there are so many scored, is it still a big deal? Australia did it, New Zealand did it, even Scotland did it and Bangladesh matched it.
Besides Tuesday night’s epic semi-final, the best match of the Cricket World Cup so far has been the Australia vs New Zealand match. Despite the satisfaction of my New Zealander friend, the result left me with the slight contentment that I watched a good contest.
Two innings, 303 runs scored, and 19 wickets for the match left most cricket fanatics with a warm and fuzzy feeling, despite the early finish.
I love the contest in cricket, no matter what form of the game. However it is no fun when one aspect of the game completely dominates another.
High scores are only good when they are hard to achieve. If 300 becomes a par score for teams in one-day cricket, then you may as well take Harris’ advice and use a bowling machine.
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