I just watched Pakistan and England play a ODI that featured plenty of sixes and over six hundred runs.
Exciting? Not at all. Interesting? Hardly!
Hapless bowlers running in trying their best bowling on a road. Batsmen unafraid to swing hard and swing often swatting decent bowlers to all parts of the ground.
If this is the sort of cricket we will see at the World Cup, I won’t bother watching it.
T20 cricket is forced to produce flat wickets because newly won supporters with short attention spans expect big hits and plenty of them.
Test cricket is supposed to be an even contest between bat and ball. What then is the purpose of ODI cricket. Is it simply a longer form of T20 cricket?
Cricket is only interesting when there is a contest. A canny bowler, strategic planning and innovative fields against a skilled batsmen with great technique.
Instead, roads are produced and bowlers are forced to abandon their skillsets and rely on variations of pace to dupe batsmen.
I am tired of watching mediocre batsmen smashing bowlers out of the park and being lauded as a cricketing superstars.
Put them on a green English wicket and let them try the same against James Anderson, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn and the like.
Where is the contest? The ball may swing for a couple of overs. No reverse swing later unfortunately with two balls and the effect of Sandpapergate. If the pitch seams, the groundsman will probably face censure.
Is it possible that English conditions will create even contests between bat and ball despite the attempt to produce roads on small grounds? I hope so.
I hope the skies are overcast and the balls zip around and test the batsmen. I hope that we will be lauding only the most skilled batsmen and not flat track bullies.
I hope that bowlers take the limelight for once. I fear that it won’t.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.
Harshal Patel was not a happy man!
David Lord has been remembered as an icon of Australian sports journalism following his death, aged 84. The renowned writer and broadcaster was an…
Sign the man up for a contract next season!
RCB have suffered a massive HEAD-ACHE after Travis Head smashed the fastest century by an SRH player in just 39 balls, as they amassed…
A brutal century by Travis Head has blasted Sunrisers Hyderabad back into the Indian Premier League play-off places in another match for bowlers to…
Two Aussies abroad have endured wildly different fortunes as Jake Fraser-McGurk joined the world stage with a thrilling first IPL half century, but Scott…
