this is a great article…great points by chappell
bowlers need to be protected.
Re: Bowlers are becoming an endangered species in limited overs
Although it is true that bats have improved since the 70s and 80s and limited overs cricket is a batsman's game (hence India are such a dangerous side in LOIs despite their weak bowling), we cannot generalize like that
Good bowlers who knew how to bowl at the death were still mighty effective. I am talking of the likes of Ambrose, Wasim, Donald and McGrath etc.. Even someone like Pringle who was a line and length bowler and spinners such as Saqlain and Murali were very difficult to get away in the death overs
You cannot use crap bowlers like Ishant and Sami as examples. They will be caned no matter where they bowl in an innings. Even Broad, Anderson and Gul are not good death bowlers in ODIs. Gul is a better death bowler in T20Is
However a few steps might help redress the balance between bat and ball
- 2 bouncers per over
- Fielding restrictions reduced from 15 to 10 overs. 5 initially and 5-over batting power play (anywhere between 6th and 41st over)
- Increasing the boundary size (apparently boundaries are slightly shorter in LOIs compared to tests)
- Play with one ball. Playing with 2 balls means ball does n't get old enough and hence no reverse swing!
Re: Bowlers are becoming an endangered species in limited overs
Although it is true that bats have improved since the 70s and 80s and limited overs cricket is a batsman's game (hence India are such a dangerous side in LOIs despite their weak bowling), we cannot generalize like that
Good bowlers who knew how to bowl at the death were still mighty effective. I am talking of the likes of Ambrose, Wasim, Donald and McGrath etc.. Even someone like Pringle who was a line and length bowler and spinners such as Saqlain and Murali were very difficult to get away in the death overs
You cannot use crap bowlers like Ishant and Sami as examples. They will be caned no matter where they bowl in an innings. Even Broad, Anderson and Gul are not good death bowlers in ODIs. Gul is a better death bowler in T20Is
However a few steps might help redress the balance between bat and ball
- 2 bouncers per over
- Fielding restrictions reduced from 15 to 10 overs. 5 initially and 5-over batting power play (anytime between 6th and 41st over)
- Increasing the boundary size (apparently boundaries are slightly shorter in LOIs compared to tests)
- Play with one ball. Playing with 2 balls means ball does n't get old enough and hence no reverse swing!
All good points..boundary size definitely needs to be same as test matches. Reduce fielding restrictions as well
But i also feel that almost every team is getting thrashed in last 10 overs these days especially in subcontinent/UAE. Pakistani bowlers were leaking close to 90 runs on a regular basis in last 10 overs on UAE pitches. Good bowlers get thrashed in last 10 overs much more frequently these days than 10 years ago. It is not abt crappy bowlers like ishanat and sami. Junaid, irfan, wahab, morkel, anderson, all get thrashed in last 10 overs..i mean not 30 runs in one over...may be batsmen are much better hitters these days amid T20.