Who Would Want to Bowl?

[archie mac]

imo they are making things to easy for the batsman by:

1. roping off the boundaries.
2. making better and better bats. I see Gilly miss hit a ball and it still goes 10 rows back.
3. limting the amout of bouncers a fast bowler can bowl per over.
4. placeing Test Matches back to back on a regular basis.
5. clamping down on anything that might give a bowler some assistance, from dirt to resin.
6. demanding the completion of min. overs in a day, the Windies speed men, had plenty of time for rest.
7. having an inquirey every time a pitch shows early signs of taking spin or heaven help us speed on the first day. The pitches in Aust. of late; I think I might even make it to double figures.

 

[cameeel]

True, but in a small way bowling technology has improved, nowhere near to the extent that batting tech has, but still the recuperation programs have improved, and i suppose all the new shoe technology can only help, but batting is the more glamourous aspect of cricket, so maybe thats why they mainly concentrate on batting

 

[Blaze]

True, but in a small way bowling technology has improved, nowhere near to the extent that batting tech has, but still the recuperation programs have improved, and i suppose all the new shoe technology can only help, but batting is the more glamourous aspect of cricket, so maybe thats why they mainly concentrate on batting

I disagree. Bowling is more glamouros IMO because it is more of an achievment to take a wicket than it is to score a boundary.

 

[vic_orthdox]

True, but in a small way bowling technology has improved, nowhere near to the extent that batting tech has, but still the recuperation programs have improved, and i suppose all the new shoe technology can only help, but batting is the more glamourous aspect of cricket, so maybe thats why they mainly concentrate on batting

How would you say that bowling technology has improved more than batting technology??

 

[age_master]

the way they loook at the mechanics of the action

 

[Craig]

2. making better and better bats. I see Gilly miss hit a ball and it still goes 10 rows back.

Does not holding a the bat up on high on his grip and having a strong arms and shoulders as well as a heavy not count?

 

[archie mac]

Does not holding a the bat up on high on his grip and having a strong arms and shoulders as well as a heavy not count?

Yes most certainly, but 20 years ago I hardly remember it happening on the big Australian grounds, unless it was a top edged hook off a fast bowler.

I was just picking Gilly as an example, I see it happen a lot now off the spinners.

 

[shaka]

Roping the boundary is for safety reasons, so that they dont dive head first into the boards.

 

[archie mac]

Roping the boundary is for safety reasons, so that they dont dive head first into the boards.

Well why didn't they need it for the other 120 years of Test Cricket?

 

[shaka]

diving head first is sort of a new phenomenon, like Symonds of the world for example, it was done about 10 years ago or something

 

[archie mac]

diving head first is sort of a new phenomenon, like Symonds of the world for example, it was done about 10 years ago or something

Aren't the players as smart as they use to be?


Seriously though, when they rope them off at Adelaide, they are so close to the fence (Leg and off side), I just can't see what difference it would make.

 

[Swervy]

Well why didn't they need it for the other 120 years of Test Cricket?

well quite a few people have injured themselves over the years on the fences....who was it who did their knee in a few years back in The Australian team...seem to remember Kim Hughes do his finger in on a fence back in the early 80's

 

[shaka]

most sixes usually go over the side boards

 

[shaka]

well quite a few people have injured themselves over the years on the fences....who was it who did their knee in a few years back in The Australian team...seem to remember Kim Hughes do his finger in on a fence back in the early 80's

Rhodes has fallen victim to the sideboard, somebody i remember broke their leg.

 

[Rich2001]

I've always look at it like this, Yes the batsman might have the game tailored his way in a couple of areas but remember that a batsman only has one life, a bowler has an infiante amount of chances to redeem that poor delivery (he could bowl rubbish all day long but still pick up a 5 fer), if a batsman has a poor shot the chances are he(she) is walking back to the hut.

And at the end of the day Cricket just like anything else in the world is a business to an extent, fans want to see some action and generally it's the batsman hitting big shots that gets the fans going, not dot ball after dot ball.

Iam guessing that your still a purist and love Test matches, just like the rest of us here

As for the Ad boards, I watched on TV only 2/3 seasons ago Alan Donald broke a couple of ribs when he went for a catch and ended up bent over backwars on top of the boards, looked like it hurt a fair bit to me!

England's very own Steve Harmison had a nasty run in with an Ads board as well, that resulted in him bowling 8 wides in a row agaisnt some Aussies outfit, nasty concussion I blieve.

 

[archie mac]

Rhodes has fallen victim to the sideboard, somebody i remember broke their leg.

Ricky Ponting I think it was his foot?
John Snow damaged a finger on the fence back in the early 70s and could not bowl in the deciding Test.

I can remember a number of balls falling between the rope and the fence. Plus a couple of times a fielder taking a catch and falling over the rope. I remember Jeff Thomson taking a great catch up against the fence V Pakistan in the early 80s. now that would be a six and another missed wicket for the poor bowler

 

[chekmeout]

I've always look at it like this, Yes the batsman might have the game tailored his way in a couple of areas but remember that a batsman only has one life, a bowler has an infiante amount of chances to redeem that poor delivery, if a batsman has a poor shot the chances are he(she) is walking back to the hut.

And at the end of the day Cricket just like anything else in the world is a business to an extent, fans want to see some action and generally it's the batsman hitting big shots that gets the fans going, not dot ball after dot ball.

Iam guessing that your still a purist and love Test matches, just like the rest of us here

As for the Ad boards, I watched on TV only 2/3 seasons ago Alan Donald broke a couple of ribs when he went for a catch and ended up bent over backwars on top of the boards, looked like it hurt a fair bit to me!

England's very own Steve Harmison had a nasty run in with an Ads board as well, that resulted in him bowling 8 wides in a row agaisnt some Aussies outfit, nasty concussion I blieve.

I totally agree with Rich. At the end of the day, the batsman still has only one chance...

 

[Richard]

England's very own Steve Harmison had a nasty run in with an Ads board as well, that resulted in him bowling 8 wides in a row agaisnt some Aussies outfit, nasty concussion I blieve.

Fortunately it was only a meaningless 12-a-side charity pipe-opener.

 

[archie mac]

I totally agree with Rich. At the end of the day, the batsman still has only one chance...

I agree with him as well, his post was very well written. I think it just as well the players are scoring so fast these days, otherwise I think most of the Tests would be draws. If the vast amount of strips produced these days were produced in the early 80s I think we would have had a number of nil all results and the Windies would have been looking for spin bowlers.

 

[Richard]

imo they are making things to easy for the batsman by:

1. roping off the boundaries.
2. making better and better bats. I see Gilly miss hit a ball and it still goes 10 rows back.
3. limting the amout of bouncers a fast bowler can bowl per over.
4. placeing Test Matches back to back on a regular basis.
5. clamping down on anything that might give a bowler some assistance, from dirt to resin.
6. demanding the completion of min. overs in a day, the Windies speed men, had plenty of time for rest.
7. having an inquirey every time a pitch shows early signs of taking spin or heaven help us speed on the first day. The pitches in Aust. of late; I think I might even make it to double figures.

I've thought the same thing about many of the matters for quite a while... my take on the matters...
1, the boundaries being roped off is OK, the boards can be dangerous, but the stupidity is in wasting the large amount of space you regularly see wasted by bringing them in far, far too far.
2, better bat technology is here to stay. I don't see any harm in it myself, you can still get power and no power, depending on the backlift and speed of arms. And no good bat technology can make a good delivery into a bad one.
3, the bouncer limitation has been in place for some time and really makes not a tremendous amount of difference. Bouncers are relatively harmless and being disallowed from bowling too many actually increases a bowler's chances of effectiveness.
4, back-to-back Test-matches and crammed-in tours are one of the biggest evils of the current era. Something needs to be done about it - my choice would be a reduction in the number of Test and full-time ODI sides and an assauging of the 10-year plan.
5, applying "non-natural" substances has been banned for as long as people have used them. It's easy to keep a ball in good condition with just sweat, spit and rubbing on the trousers.
6, over-rates are poor enough as it is, without more leeway being given. They were far quicker in bygone days, and there is far, far too much hiatus between deliveries as it is.
7, the obsession with "good" pitches goes far too far and there isn't enough assistance for spinners in the subcontinent and seamers elsewhere ATM.