Batsmen having a ball

From Ashok Sridharan, India
A run-rate of 4 an over is so commonplace today that its hard to forget that 3 an over was considered an excellent scoring rate as late as ten years ago. I remember, 4 an over was considered impossible back then. While the improved scoring rate might give the impression that the game has become more exciting, I'd be inclined to think otherwise. The pitches today are far batsmen friendlier; whereas their predecessors got to bowl on helpful pitches every now and then, the current day bowlers very seldom, if ever, get anything vaguely resembling a helpful pitch.

Back in the 90s, Durban and Perth were lightning fast; I can scarcely remember when I last heard that adjective being used to describe a pitch. Pitches in England were supposed to be seamer friendly- a quality that's becoming increasingly rare. Is it any wonder that several batsmen whose techniques wouldn't have stood scrutiny a generation ago proudly flaunt 40 plus averages while bowlers of the quality of Brett Lee average in the high 20s?

If that wasn't bad enough, the bats have become a lot heavier. I never recollect seeing mishits go for sixes or minor defensive prods fly down to the fence back in the 90s, both of which have become ridiculously routine these days. Under the circumstances, its virtually impossible for the spinners to beat the batsmen in the flight. Anyone who would like to argue that spinners like Warne, Murali and Kumble have thrived in recent years, would also need to consider that all three of them started well before the new century and got to hone their skills in the days before heavy bats and short boundaries became the norm.

While the importance of television revenues cannot be overstated, at what price are those revenues going to be earned? Do administrators seriously believe that one-sided run fests make for exciting viewing? Did the matches in the India-Pakistan series of 2005-06 (in which even the flat wickets reduced even the likes of Shoaib Akhtar to trundlers) match even by a fraction the excitement of the ashes series just a few months earlier? Is there anything entertaining in watching an obviously ordinary batsman smashing quality bowlers around on a dead wicket where the contest is ludicrously uneven?

My answer is an emphatic no and I think its about time administrators across the world took the trouble to ask us, the fans, what we'd like to see. The contest between the bat and ball has to be restored, if test cricket is to retain the imagination of future generations and for that, we need a return to livelier and/or quicker pitches that would restore some of the contest between bat and ball. Another suggestion I'd like to make is to restore the old six rule, whereby one had to hit a ball out of the ground to be awarded 6 runs and any shot that cleared the ropes without going out of the ground was awarded 4 runs. With mishits effortlessly sailing over the ropes, restoration of the old rule seems fairly logical... assuming that the long-term health of the game assumes greater importance than short-term financial gains.

Sadly, what constitutes first priority for the powers that be is the biggest question.