What was behind the recent ODI run glut?

I think nearly all bowlers are trying to hit the right areas and tending to change the pace in order to avoid getting hit, rather than beat the batsmen with swing.also as we know white balls lose shine much quicker than red ones.otherwise i don't think it has anything to do with changes in manufacturing.

Are you implying australian batsmen are vulnerable and would've been found out on non-flat pitches?

Had the matches been played on NORMAL Australian pitches , as they had been in earlier years, it could have proved embarrassing for Australia which is why , for the first time I think ,Australia opted for safety and laid out Batting Beauties knowing there would be a run glut which would satisfy spectators and the scorelines would not be embarrassing !

“back in my day”. You have a point Brendon signed Old Fart

Brendon, I agree with you that there are more shots being played the likes of which we haven't seen before (switch-hit, ramp and scoop to name three) but I'd argue that those shots are also being enabled by the flat pitches. A scoop shot on the old WACA pitch may have got you killed! Also, it can't be underestimated how much the bats have changed the game. Here in NZ we had a 20/20 on Friday night where Corey Anderson was hitting sixes nowhere near the middle of the bat. Yes, smallish ground but we've also seen that in big bash games. And when players actually middle it it's over 100 meters. So when the ball comes straight and true and I have a bat that will help me reach and exceed the boundary even on a mis-hit I will play a lot more attacking shots with impunity

Ok Fox, you question away. Maybe someone else will believe you. The truth is out there...

Ok, the pitches are being dumbed down, that's one thing...... But the Kookaburra ball is another......unless their pink, they don't swing, they don't swing, and they don't seam!

Do you agree that the ball used to swing more a decade or so ago or is that just my imagination.

Here we go. A bunch of old blokes reminisciing about "back in my day". When WSC started all the old farts cried about the hit and giggle cricket in pyjama clothing. Guess what, you guys sound EXACTLY like the old fuddy duddies back in the late 70's. Why are scoring rates so high in 50 overs? Because of T20. Batsmen have been able to transport the higher scoring rates from T20 into ODI and even test cricket. Look at the shots being played today. 20-30 years ago they just didnt play those sort of shots. A greater understanding of batting mechanics and the importance of batspeed is much better understood today. Go back and watch any ODI from the 80's on youtube and compare the batting styles and techniques from that era to today and se how inferior that are to today. Allan Border, test great that averaged 50, had about 2-3 scoring shots. Today that would not just be good enough. What about the ridiculously short square boundaries on the old Adelaide Oval? And you lot whinge about ropes being 2-3m too far in? Its only a few weeks away from the infamous 434 run chase by South Africa against Australia (March 12 2006) and you lot are bitching about ODI's with scores between 300-350 in 2016???

"The grounds in NZ are basically rugby grounds converted for cricket with ridiculously small boundaries" Eden Park, yes. The rest, no (Bar the Cake Tin Wellington, which is still oval shaped for cricket).

I do love how people can make suck blanket statements on something so subjective as to what someone finds entertaining.

I am glad you know what goes on in the back room gambling dens across the sub continent and the rest of the planet...As I mentioned all of India's wickets were caught, and Australia dropped three catches as well. How many times has that happened in an ODI? It was like the Indians were determined to get out. Who is to say that bookmakers weren't hit across the globe in a series of small stings? A swathe of $10,000 bets on Australia at juicy in running odds (over 5/1 possibly even 10/1) with around 12 overs to go would have paid handsomely. It would only take a few operators to run a pool up well over a million dollars. This type of dead rubber match, the manner of the dismissals and end result is EXACTLY the type of match that is suspicious and must be questioned / discussed. BTW never equate the fact that someone is wealthy with them being virtuous. X is wealthy so wouldn't want an extra $100k...doesn't work like that.

And I'm perfectly within my rights to tell you you're wasting your time. Still no evidence apart from opinion - most of the commentary is referring to the arbitrary nature of India's collapse, the Grauniad is the only one that even hints at match fixing. Also no evidence of any large sums being laid on the match result, no outcries from bookmakers - your wall of conspiracy is lacking more than a few bricks. That's not even taking into account that MS Dhoni and most of the side would have to be in on it. Which I find laughable. You can say a lot of things about Dhoni, but Azharuddin he isn't. Not even once in your breathless assertions the game is fixed have you even addressed the human factor - can you tell me how guys like Dhoni, Kohli, who are fabulously wealthy and have shown no signs whatsoever of match fixing behaviour, would suddenly risk it all to throw a high profile ODI in Australia? Short of a few bob? Need an extension on their mansions? Your theory is rubbish because it's precisely that, a theoretical notion. Yes on bare numbers the batting doesn't make sense but when you consider it in the context of the game and the personalities involved it's nonsense to suggest this match was fixed.

Yes and my point that the scoreline does not properly represent how close most of the games were is still made.

Prosenjit, most people seem to prefer flat track high scoring form of amusement, so who am I to say they are wrong. Whatever makes your boat float. I would like to see a little more variety, but hey, there's a posse of TV executives and Cricket Australia marketing people out there who want to ensure the game doesn't finish 5 or 6 over early. And if the TV ratings stay healthy, it proves them right . For me though, along with a handful of others, one day matches have all gone a bit manic. And so it goes.

"appreciate his/her skill." If only I could appropriate.

"A sport needs more than just the last 5-10 mins of a 7 hour games to be exciting." Hear, Hear.

I'll bite. There is nothing wrong with the odd game being high scoring, but when they are all that way then it becomes mundane. Cricket at it's best, at least in my opinion, is when there is a real battle between batsmen/woman and bowler. Who wins that battle and how that plays in to the larger context of a game and a series creates the drama. Add to that if I can see a batsmen who struggles through those battle and then goes on to make a score or comes in and looks a class above when all others a struggling makes me appropriate his/her skill. When everyone just walks out and starts blazing boundaries or easily working ones and twos with no real threat of getting out then that essential component of the contest between bat and ball is lost and the drama of the game is gone, unless the scores are close at the end. A sport needs more than just the last 5-10 mins of a 7 hour games to be exciting.

Ok. Here are some snippers of match reports from various outlets. Read through these and ask yourself if there isn't something more in this. A flat track, 1/277, a run a ball for the last 10/11 overs which is a dawdle in this age and a pretty lame Australian bowling attack - no Starc, Johnson, Pattinson, Cummins, etc. I am perfectly within my rights to question the circumstances of this Indian loss. ABC - 'Australia has somehow claimed a 25-run win over India after the visitors threw away the match at Manuka Oval' 'So, what to say about India's performance?' They were cruising along at 1-277 with only a run a ball to get, before it all went haywire. A collapse of 9-46 handed the match to Australia, who remarkably ended up winning by 25 runs' SMH 'Cruising at 1-277 chasing Australia's 8-348 with Shikhar Dhawan (126 off 113 balls) and Kohli (106 off 92) untroubled, the Indians looked to set to win in a canter before they lost 9-46 in an extraordinary collapse.....It triggered a flurry of ill-disciplined and reckless strokes from India as they threw away what would have been their first win of the series' Fox Sports 'India capitulated to lose 3-1 and ultimately 9-46 in just 12 overs, and not even two embarrassing drops from wicketkeeper Matt Wade and another spill from Richardson made an ounce of difference as the tourists were dismissed for 323 in the final over – their hopes of pulling off the sixth-highest run chase in ODI history, dashed in an epic choke.' ....'However, on the flattest of flat Canberra pitches, Hastings turned the match on its head in the 38th over with the key double breakthrough of Dhawan and skipper MS Dhoni. The Guardian 'This will look on first glance like the fourth straight victory for a rampant Australian side over an Indian outfit who are almost there but not quite. Scratch the surface and you’ll reveal one of the more remarkable endings to an ODI in recent memory. India were cruising at 277-1 but somehow contrived to be all out just 46 runs and 12 overs later. On a road.' 'For India this will be a painful blow. They were in such a strong position for so long but batsman after batsman gave his wicket away. At the time Dhawan looked to have succumbed to fatigue but it seemed inconsequential. Half an hour later and he would have been cursing himself for not creeping to the finishing post in singles, especially as Mitch Marsh heaved his cramping body into its delivery stride to deliver the telling knockout blow

I would go further Onside and lay the same comments about the test pitches here. They have been deplorable for the last two seasons