The avalanche of statistics that no doubt poured forth during Australia’s rather comfortable (!) overhauling of New Zealand’s massive score at Eden Park in the T20 tri-series included one to please brand managers the world over.
Ultimately, it’s fairly irrelevant, as are most of the numbers which are given more importance than they really merit, but a glance up and down the various columns on the scorecard revealed that a record-equaling number of sixes were hit in the 38-and-a-bit overs.
The Kiwis cleared the ropes – or should it be touchline on a rugby pitch? – 18 times and the Aussies 14 to equal the 32 struck when India faced West Indies in Lauderhill 18 months ago.
Now, the latest instance was on an Eden Park field on par size-wise with where under-11 cricket is played and it barely takes a flick of the wrists to send the ball high into the stands, but nevertheless, what took place in Auckland was a glimpse into what’s to come if current trends continue.
This may well have been an extreme case of Twenty20 – ludicrously short boundaries, a flat surface, batsmen swinging at everything and impotent bowling attacks – but the car has been accelerating in this direction for a while and it doesn’t appear as though anybody has a foot near the brake.
Seeing the carnage unfold reminded me of a game I covered a few years ago. I doubt whether the 2013 edition of Northamptonshire Steelbacks against Warwickshire Bears from the County Ground in Northampton found its way onto the Australian networks and the contest itself was nothing to write home about.
But it was the first instance I’d seen of the boundaries being deliberately shortened in the name of so-called entertainment.
The chief executive of the time fed me the line of ‘it’s for health and safety reasons’ – the rope had to be a few yards in from the advertising boards apparently even though it had never previously been an issue – and then admitted off the record it was done in the search for higher-scoring and more boundaries.
The decision turned a decent sized playing area into one almost not big enough for purpose but that didn’t prove to be a one off at Northampton and it’s now pretty much the default setting there and around the country (see if you can find any footage from and T20 at Trent Bridge in 2017 and you probably won’t believe your eyes).
This isn’t to condemn the 20-over game as a format. It’s now fully ingrained as part of the cricketing landscape, it has added new strands to methodology more than century in the making, it has breathed life into domestic structures around the world and it can be highly entertaining to watch.
Yet to see an international reduced to nothing more than exhibition baseball in drag – with far fewer nuances before any baseball fans jump down my throat – where indiscriminate swinging sees mishits fly into the crowd and bowlers reduced to nothing was unedifying.
(Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
The players on show are fine cricketers who have more to offer than seeing their abilities reduced down to the lowest common denominator of who can hit the furthest the most often.
No tact, no diplomacy, just bludgeon then bludgeon some more. If that is what cricket wants then this is what it gets.
It appears to be the trendy line of thought that people won’t go to watch, that a new generation of fans can’t be attracted, unless a run-fest is guaranteed, that appreciation of the game itself is beyond those whose purpose is to put meat on the marketing target bone.
Strip away the variety, the multitude of facets that make the whole, the foundations of a sport that aren’t in need of restoration and you’re left with a one-dimensional product as much unforgettable as it’s supposed to be ground-breaking.
If that is how it is going to be this one dissenting voice won’t fight the tide, but rather than selling the game, the gluttony on show at Eden Park sells it short.
Cricket is better than that.
Custard Cream
Roar Rookie
And One hand one bounce just for my England team!
DavSA
Guest
I know it is not a great comparison as this happened in a 50 over game but 2015 at The Wanderers AB De Villiers scoring 100 off just 31 deliveries against The West Indies. He eventually fell for 149 having struck no fewer than sixteen 6's. This in a proper cricket stadium not a rugby pitch. I don't see any lasting damage to the game here . As long as it does not happen too often. Pretty sure though it did no good at all to the Windies pride.
Fergus
Roar Rookie
Not if what other people are saying is true. Besides a lot of sixes only just clear the boundary and a few metres is all it takes to turn that into a catch.
Simon
Guest
Yeah Test cricket is a different beast altogether, imo an average score should be 250 with 300 being good, as soon as you get teams getting 5/500 etc the game becomes relatively lifeless imo
Don Freo
Guest
A 'God complex"? It's not that complex. There is almost a 'duh' factor.
Paul
Roar Guru
You've obviously got a God complex if you can decide, each and every time, what shot constitutes a mishit. That makes about the same amount of sense as your suggestion that mishits should not be rewarded. 4 runs to win a Test match, last ball and the number 11 batsman gets an edge for a boundary. Sorry mate, you don't get any runs for that and your side loses the game. Brilliant!
Fergus
Roar Rookie
I learnt a long time ago that some people can only be argued with and reasoned discussion is beyond them. Unfortunately it seems your one of them as your not willing to at least concede you push WA players. Yes they have achieved far more in cricket then i ever have and respect that. They are probably very nice people too. but i have every right to compare them to other players in there field and present a judgement, selectors, coaches, etc do it all the time, people do it all the time. The reality is that national selection is a pay rise of around a million i have every right to cry foul when i think it's undeserved. "If you don’t like it, Fergus, don’t read it. By all means, provide an alternate position but to expect me to not comment because you don’t like it is silly." Peoples ability to make assumptions always amazes me but truly yours is unparalleled. " I have been proven right about Marsh because I see what he is like" haha no, you've been proven right because if you throw darts at a board a million times at least one has got to hit the bullseye "You view through the spectacles of disdain." Again assumptions don, he's a great odi cricketer, and he has great potential at test level but to hold the opinion that the player with a first class average of 30 and test average of 20 deserves selection over someone averaging 50 or even 40 at first class level is either incredible bias or stupidity. if you bothered to read what i wrote and use that brain of yours, you'd realise it was relevant only to you and the point i was trying to make, not a put down of marsh (he arguably deserves his spot now and has improved out of sight). it's just last time i checked your not singing the praises of George Bailey or any other batsmen to average poorly in the tests side who isn't from WA. When you start doing that then i'll revise my opinion that you have a bias. Plus many of your positions from my point of view are illogical unless you have a bias, i'd rather assume your not an idiot. "to expect me to not comment because you don’t like it is silly." Again with the assumptions. Feel perfectly free to comment, everyone has a right to express their opinions, just don't expect me to hold them in high esteem. I'll read your comments Don because despite what you believe i don't stereotype and i realise that anyone can make a valid point (failing that it could be a good laugh). you might come out with the but you just stereotyped me as having a WA bias and being illogical but its not a stereotype Don its an observation of a repeated pattern of behaviour which you hold too. until you break it's perfectly valid to say your biased. Oh and before you come out with the but i push the value of other batsmen just as much, understand what a bias is. if 5 of the top ten batsmen in Australia are WA players and you push 6 WA compared to 4 from other states your biased. so saying you support other players for selection not from WA proves absolutely nothing. if you think it does you need to get your brain checked. Don i'm sorry if this seems overly confrontational or derogatory but i am not going to think very highly of your opinion unless your willing to admit at least a small bias. I have a bias towards Tasmania and it fills my heart with joy to see WA getting smashed (so much for the depth ha). i can admit that and by recognising it i can go about trying to minimise it. I hope we can have reasoned discussions in the future but your not filling me with optimism.
DaveJ
Guest
Good call Alex, sixes have become way too easy, thanks to the big bats as well as the boundaries. Bowlers with minimal success in first class cricket are getting ridiculous financial rewards for T20 skills. Not sure quite what you meant by exhibition baseball - I’m guessing you were comparing to a home run derby where the balls are served up on a plate to hit? Otherwise in general baseball is still a pitcher’s game: a good batter only gets a base hit at only about 30% of at-bats, and I’m guessing misses or fouls off 3-4 times on average in a successful at bat. And home runs are quite rare. In that sense, baseball is still a bit like soccer scoring wise, whereas T20 cricket is becoming a bit too much like basketball. I think it is actually an advantage for cricket in terms of the attractiveness of the product, but there is no need to overdo the easy runs. Baseball has often been used as a comparison in criticising the newer forms of limited overs cricket, as if the latter is on a slippery slope towards soulless American commercialism. But actually baseball highly values tradition in the same way cricket does, or used to. I also like the way that Major League Baseball shirts have no advertising on them, and some teams like the Yankees don’t even have the players names on the back. (I guess the richer the sport, the less need there is for advertising on uniforms).
Mitch
Guest
Agar 3 overs 1/24 economy of 8 and doesnt get a 4th over????
cos1
Guest
Well, at least in baseball, it takes a fair whack to clear the boundaries, even the shorter ones. Diminishing returns is a problem here. And the other problem is the fact that when international crickets only need to mishit a fast bowler to clear a 50 metre boundary, what elite cricketers are doing is no longer elite and no longer special. Yes, baseballers bludgeon the ball. But no one else can do what they do. And then, of course, the problem of now long-suffering bowlers. What is the point of bowling when administrators and crowds only want to see batsmen succeed? When you are not given any opportunity to be effective, and punished by new regulations when you find a way to be effective? And especially, what is the point of being a fast bowler on grounds like this? Bowl fast and a forward prod would score an easy boundary. It is etting to the stage that it makes no sense to bowl fast (if at all).
Cantab
Guest
Agree. But half the test series is a day night game on the same field.
Cantab
Guest
Eden park has been this small for decades, it’s normally a bowlers wicket. That was was the difference last night as they had a brand new drop in pitch. Last nights attendance was much higher than the cumulative 20 attendance of New Zealand’s 4 test matches this summer. There’s only going to be more of this stuff.
Don Freo
Guest
Meh... Batsmen should not shy away from bowlers operating as a threat. They could then take up the challenge. Much more entertaining when the two major cricket skills are on display instead of one. The game should be slanted towards cricket fans, not those that don't get the game.
Bakkies
Guest
They need to be pitching yorkers in between middle and leg so there is less room to get under the ball and hit it to the fence.
Bakkies
Guest
That match was at the Wanderers where the ball travels further in the air due to the altitude. Mick Lewis went for over 100 off his ten overs.
Justin from Canberra
Guest
Cannot see why all the fretting over short boundaries, big bats and slogging. It's 20/20 and what the format is about. An absorbing Test series awaits for all those 'purists' insulted by the whack-fest of last night which was fun to watch, I thought.
Don Freo
Guest
Marsh doesn't own that record. That's the end of that story. Ronan went with the old, 'for every batsman who has played 23.6 innings' and excluded all the greater failures. That was just a silly stat. I have been proven right about Marsh because I see what he is like. You view through the spectacles of disdain. I don't 'push' any value. I simply argue against the naysayers who simply put down players at the elite level. No one needs ever to put down someone who has achieved way more than they ever have on the sporting field. I prefer to talk about what they have done. Only weak people have a need to go the other way. If you don't like it, Fergus, don't read it. By all means, provide an alternate position but to expect me to not comment because you don't like it is silly.
anon
Roar Pro
It was beautiful cleaning hitting. Most of those 6's were leaving any ground in the world. Some of the cleanest hitting you'll ever see. Average score at that ground is something like 168 and both teams beat that by about 75 each. Some of the best cricket I have ever watched. This and the Kohli innings against Australia in the T20 World Cup two years ago are probably my favourite T20 performances. It really shows what can be achieved when batsmen are given licence to throw the bat at everything. If Australia had batted first they would have been happy with 180 or 190. Australia is just way to conservative in their approach to limited overs cricket. Guys like Smith and Lehmann are in a time warp
Don Freo
Guest
Yep, they would be mishits. Boycott, however, played with longer boundaries and bats that did not have edges as big as the face of the bat. Now, that is an exaggeration but only a minuscule exaggeration compared to your characterization of how Boycott scored 99 of his runs. I think we can all work out what a mishit is. Have a read of Qwetzen's cut and paste from the commentary of Short's little stint.
13th Man
Guest
Bit hard to push the rope back at Eden Park though.