No harm in big hits but the game's becoming a slogathon
Big hits are nothing new, but in his column for the Guardian Mike Selvey says cricket's overdoing it a bit too much
Jamie Alter
25-Feb-2013
Big hits are nothing new, but in his column for the Guardian Mike Selvey says cricket's overdoing it a bit too much. Getting closer to the matter, Selvey's view is that new lightweight bats mean limited-overs cricket is in danger of turning into a predictable slogarama.
There is some phenomenal ball-striking taking place, the size of some of the boundaries notwithstanding. Before Yuvraj Singh's outrageous six sixes in an over off Stuart Broad yesterday, the longest hits so far, presumably measured by laser, have been belted by Pakistan's Misbah ul-Haq off Australia's Nathan Bracken, stunning 111-metre front foot drives both. These, and many of the numerous maximums hit this past week or so, have been the result of perfect striking and supreme confidence; six anywhere, anytime. The bats don't half help, though; these disposable lightweight lumps of willow, all volume and no density. It is these characteristics that still bother me.
Writing in the Hindu, Steve Waugh hopes Mahendra Singh Dhoni's appointment as ODI captain doesn't detract from India's task at hand - qualifying for the semi-finals of the ICC World Twenty20.
Waugh also feels the Australians are taking time to come to grips with the Twenty20 format, and seem to be caught between wanting to play the way they do in 50-over cricket and trying to innovate.
Jamie Alter is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo