Why This Is The Greatest Era Of bowling In Last 60 Years

[Starfighter]

Imo the conditions were slightly tougher or similar for batting in the 90s, but the batting standards are simply lower now and hence you get lower avgs

In Australia you pretty much never saw pitches as grassy as those in the past few seasons in the nineties, or any preceding decade for that matter. And that's happened simultaneously with a ball with a bigger, harder seam and more lacquer. For the lettering to remain on the ball for 40+ overs used to be virtually unknown in Australia, but it happened in the BGT. Bumrah took most of his wickets with straight seamed balls, and for the past several seasons teams have often found seam movement right through a ball's lifetime, whereas it used to last 15 overs if they were lucky. Amir Jamal's debut series success might have looked very different with the older pitches and balls, relying largely on 'magic' deliveries amongst junk.

 

[Kenneth Viljoen]

Number of batsman with 45+ AVG -

90s - 15 batsmans
Since 2018- 13 batsmans.

That doesn't say anything at all that's just blind stats..
Voges averages more than any cricketer who played in the 90's but you wouldn't put him ahead of Tendulkar lol

 

[Coronis]

@Narayana I know you liked my post but it was a completely sarcastic indictment of the wobble ball. Far too subtle, in all likelihood.

 

[shortpitched713]

Short attentions spans

This seems flawed, "current players bad" type thinking.

 

[Narayana]

That doesn't say anything at all that's just blind stats..
Voges averages more than any cricketer who played in the 90's but you wouldn't put him ahead of Tendulkar lol

I would definitely put Steve Waugh better than tendulkar and the best batter of 90s.

Against top 3 - Steve Waugh 66 AVG away.
For same top 3 sachin 41.70 avg
Lara -35.

 

[shortpitched713]

Is there any evidence towards the idea of "current batsman bad", other than averages being down (which can equally be used to justify "current bowler good" as a conclusion)?

 

[Narayana]

Is there any evidence towards the idea of "current batsman bad", other than averages being down (which can equally be used to justify "current bowler good" as a conclusion)?

Here is a comparison between 1998-2008 vs 2016-2025 bowling average by each position -

See in current era, All teams has stong bowling attack as whole, means deeper attack.
In 90s England,NZ ,sl And Ind blower were not good at all.

 

[Coronis]

Is there any evidence towards the idea of "current batsman bad", other than averages being down (which can equally be used to justify "current bowler good" as a conclusion)?

I think, especially for people who have watched the game a lot and through different eras (I myself pale in this regard compared to a lot of posters here and people outside of this forum) there is almost a universal agreement that the standard of test batting has dropped. How flat the pitches were in the preceeding era + the advent and explosion of T20 franchises and the batting techniques used in the shorter formats has seen a marked decline in the ability of batsmen to grind and defend during innings, and simply give their wickets away with rash shots looking to push the RR most of the time. At least that’s what I seem to recall.

I have not seen anyone anywhere claiming that batting standards have increased (which some rare posters here seem to think automatically happens over history - correlating with athleticism somehow) or even remained at the same level.

 

[Randomfan]

Since 2018: Runs per wicket 30.6 in 7 years period







1990s: 31.97 runs per wicket - full 10 years.







1995 - 2001 : 31.78 runs per wickets - 7 years when SL was non-minnows




2018's till date is bowler friendly by a margin of 1.37 runs per wicket for entire 90s
2018 till date is bowler friendly by a margin of 1.18 runs per wicketg for 7 years comparison when SL was non-minnows for that period.

Clearly, 2018 till date is more bowler friendly era by 1 runs or so per wicket for bowlers compared to 90s.

 

[PlayerComparisons]

Batting is at an all time low and it’s going to get worse

 

[Flem274*]

The current era is more bowling friendly than the 90's because most teams today have batsmen that aren't at a high standard for various reasons.

"Actually X only looks good because everyone is secretly bad" is a line I've seen trotted out since I joined this forum. Others add "except the 2005 Ashes, pinnacle of cricket quality" as well.

Cricket is strongly controlled by the environment it is played in. When I first got into cricket, test pitches were more homogenous than they were now in an attempt to ensure games lasted 5 days. This led to a boost in batting averages.

These days, boards just want to win. Compare the Indian and NZ decks of 2009, 2013 and 2010 in bilaterals compared to those of 2020 and 2024 (or the 22 or 16 tours). The former were flat and easier for the opposition to adjust, the latter were teams wanting to ensure home advantage.

We want to believe all players matter more than they do but ultimately if you want to know the trend of a game, look at the ground and sky.

 

[Immenso]

Being allowed to get LBWs when bowling around the wicket to left handers must have shaved off a few runs per wicket. So, thanks DRS.

Not just the LBWs, but the balls batsmen play at an edge behind because they're too scared to leave them

And will surely eventually see LHBs reduce in number more in line with the percentage of the population (but still more than).

Compare early Broad to late Broad. Or Ishant. For those who's careers crossed this change in umpiring perception.

And wonder what lines a journeyman like Chris Martin should have been bowling a decade earlier if there was any reward in it.