ICC looking to bring back run-a-ball hundreds

ESPNcricinfo understands that the ICC has grown concerned by inflated rates of scoring and is considering taking action. A source has told us that several senior executives are struggling to come to terms with what modern batsmen are capable of and have therefore been reduced to committing the gravest cricket sin of all, namely asking those seated nearby, "Who's winning?"

A combination of modern bats, smaller playing areas, fielding restrictions and the influence of T20 has meant that it is not uncommon for sides to score at 10 an over for extended periods. Our source - a senior figure in the ICC, who unfortunately cannot be named because we missed his name at the start of the phone call and then felt too embarrassed to ask later on - told us that these incredibly quick scoring rates mean he now struggles to follow 50-over matches.

"Time was you knew where you were with a run chase. Four an over was pretty much standard, five an over was challenging, and then you waited for that moment when the required rate tipped above six. At that point, the commentators would say: 'They need more than a run a ball now,' and you'd know that the fielding side had basically won."

He believes that when sides are capable of scoring at eight, nine or 10 an over, it makes it impossible to tell what's going on.

"Look, I love fours and sixes as much as the next person. We've done a lot of research in the form of asking people whether they'd like to see more boundaries, and almost everyone says that they would. It's just that the maths becomes trickier the bigger the numbers get."

It is for this reason that a plan has been mooted to reduce the value of a run. "We don't want to see fewer sixes - that would be terrible. But what if a six were worth just three runs? Assuming we halved the value of all other run-scoring so that the relative value of 'maximums' remained the same, we could return to a situation where scoring at a run a ball was again a noteworthy achievement. Wouldn't that be great?"

Whether or not the ICC will act upon these proposals is currently unclear, but the advantages are obvious. In recent years it has become harder and harder for TV, print media and websites to gauge which innings are worthy of comment. A return to a situation where run-a-ball hundreds are somehow noteworthy would make life infinitely more straightforward.

The players too would stand to benefit. Batsmen would still be able to hit sixes with abandon, but being as the bowler would only concede three runs on each occasion, economy rates would not be quite so severely dented.

It seems a win-win situation. However, our source highlighted one possible stumbling block.

"The only downside would be half-runs. Twos, fours and sixes are fine, but under this scoring system, singles would become halves. We can't have batsmen being dismissed for three-and-a-half - that would be mental. Some say that we should do away with singles altogether, but my view is that we simply round up or down when the batsman is dismissed."

The idea will be discussed at the next meeting of the ICC's Cricket Committee along with a whole bunch of other moronic ideas.