A call for innovation

Simon Wilde proposes a new means of making Test cricket more competitive, calling for a world Test championship with knockout stages at the end of the tournament, and with each innings limited to 110 overs to eliminate the possibility of a draw and determine a definite winner. Read his article in the Times.

Some games under this system might finish in what some would deem an unsatisfactory way but there are plenty of Test matches at present that are totally unsatisfactory - witness the recent Barbados Test in which bat dominated ball and a draw was clearly the only possible result from a very early stage. As a spectacle it was a travesty but under this plan batsmen-friendly pitches might still produce exciting games.

Why do cricket balls really swing? Is it because of the overcast conditions, the humidity or the cloud cover? Science has something else to say. Mark Henderson, The Times Science Editor, with the assistance of Nasa, offers a study in contrast to the established belief of swinging certainties. Read the piece in the Times.

“What the commentators, cricketers I much admire, have been saying about swing is plain wrong,” he [Rabindra Mehta, a NASA scientist] told The Times yesterday. “They’ve been talking about the clouds, how the new ball won’t swing until the lacquer has come off, and it’s just rubbish.”

Contrary to common belief, there are three types of swing bowling, not two, he said. Seam position and bowling speed are critical to achieving all of them, but overcast weather conditions are not.