Turner G: On one-day internationals (10Apr94)

Finally we learn what the game [ODIs] is all about by Glenn Turner

[Slightly shortened version].

Published in: Sunday Star-Times, April 10th 1994.

Our expectations of what cricket is all about were finally met in the last two weeks of the season. A tame draw in a test match was followed by three closely contested ODIs where two sides strung together six innings in excess of 210 runs.

In the ODI#2 in Wellington, India scored 255. Apart from this being the highest team total of the summer in ODIs, what impressed me most was the way the innings was structured.

I regard the first 15 overs as the attacking phase; the next 25 overs as the collecting, or accumulating, phase; and the final 10 overs as the improvising stage. After 15 overs a possible 5 fielders can be stationed on the boundary.

In Wellington the Indians batted as if following my model. 10 boundaries were struck in the first 15 overs, and only 9 in the remaining 35 overs.

One question that immediately springs to mind is: How do batsmen in the first 15 overs score quickly against Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram? The answer is: With difficulty. However it will be even more difficult in the final 10 overs against Younis and Akram because the older ball swings more for them and they can set run saving fields.

The fear of losing wickets early appears to dominate the thinking of most sides when starting an innings. In my view, if the batting side defends from the start, it delays the attacking phase to the point whereby the fielding side can use the rules of the game to help it defend. In Auckland, Tendulkar showed what was possible. Admittedly his was a rather sensational innings, but just imagine what would be possible if each batsman played with unrestricted confidence.

If the job has been done successfully in the first 15 overs, collecting runs in the middle stages of an innings becomes much easier. The fielding side is fearful of placing too many players inside the circle, afraid of an ongoing boundary feast. So milking of the bowling by taking ones and twos results in four runs an over without difficulty. And it becomes much easier to conserve wickets and not lose momentum during this period.

Everything has now been set up for an entertaining, enterprising flurry over the final 10 overs. If the innings has gone to plan, five to six wickets should still be in hand. The biggest mistake batsmen can make over the final 10 overs is to either slog out, or to indulge in too many wild swings and misses. Controlled hitting, improvisation, and bail-out shots are required. To get some bat or pad on every ball will ensure good success, and hopefully better than that.

India were so well set up leading into the final 10 overs that, by scoring only 71 and ending with 5 wickets in hand, they missed an opportunity. They could have been expected to score - probably should have - an additional 15 runs or more.