T20 leading to more batting collapses?

To fear Dale Steyn is common sense, writes Andy Bull in the Guardian, while also pointing to the increase in frequency of Test-batting collapses in the past few years.

This last spell, from 2010 to the end of 2013, is the only one in recent history in which there have been more than eight double-digit team dismissals in Tests. Between 1990 and 1993 there was only one. Since then, the number has ranged between four and eight.

Possibly it is a reflection of there being greater parity between the teams. Perhaps it is to do with pitches, which, after the pleas of fans and players alike, could have become better to bowl on. More likely though, it seems to me, the increase in batting collapses is a result of the influence of T20 cricket on the technique and temperament of modern batsmen. Before you dismiss the Spin as a reactionary young curmudgeon, put it another way. Limited overs cricket, and T20 in particular, has sharpened up fielding standards, encouraged bowlers to develop new skills, and helped batsmen hone new shots.