The current Test series in India will not go Australia's way now. India are 3 for 296 on day one and should not lose from here. But I feel one of the main reasons (aside from India being a bloody good side) has to do with some of the problems Test cricket is facing.
These millionaire players, Australian's being one of the main offenders, think it's all about them. The belief of Administrators that cricket is only interesting when thousands of runs are being scored, and all in boundaries doesn't help either.
I watched day 1 of Australia vs India in Delhi and was screaming at the screen. "Come on! Just get on with it. No more mid-pitch conversations, no more planning, no more drinks for batsman, no more 12th man running on to discuss tactics with batsmen or fielders. Get on with it!".
Not only do they need to enforce the over rate, they need to increase the limit. These players are here to entertain us. The old scape goat of "doing what it takes to win" might win you some matches, but if it loses you spectators and support, (read money) what's the point?
Now for a long time, Australia have played very entertaining cricket, that's true, but in the field, bowling 80 to 85 overs in a day is not value for money. (Yes I pay for Foxtel so this goes beyond just admission price to the game!) We need 100 overs in a day. Don't be so precious. Get through your overs quicker.
There is another side to this argument which is also a big part of the problem. You can't expect bowlers, particularly fast bowlers, to toil away for 6 hours in 40 degree heat, and get through 100 overs in a day, if the batting side is going to cruise to 3 for 500! There has to be something in it for them (the bowlers).
Watching cricket from England is always interesting because you nearly always think that something could happen at any minute, This is because conditions (when it's not raining) give something to the bowlers. Australia and India (because they are the focus right now) need to stop preparing these flat, hard "roads" as Test pitches.
We can only insist on respectable over rates from bowlers if there is a fair chance of them actually taking 10 wickets within those allotted overs.
Cricket bats are so good these days, batsman so professional and the pitches are just so good that it is not fair to insist that bowlers just keep fronting up for more and more punishment.
The only way for us to see 100 overs in a day is to provide some incentive to bowlers to actually want to bowl that many. They can do it. Just have a look how many overs these guys can get through, if there's a match to be won on day 5. It can be done, there just needs to be as much motivation for bowlers as there is for batsman.
There's nothing wrong with the nature of Test cricket, it's simply the tactics that sides are having to take in order to try to win, or minimise damage in the biased conditions they are faced with.
This is not a dig at Indian conditions or conditions anywhere else. Some Australian pitches are amongst the worst offenders. But evidence is clear, on surfaces where are result is "almost" guaranteed within 5 days, but on which class batsman will still score runs, like most of England, and say, Sydney, Brisbane and even Perth, we get great matches.
This needs to be the case everywhere. Serve up the conditions for averaging 100 overs in a day with average scores of 8 for 300, and you'll see some ripping Test series and interest in Twenty20 crap will go away.
2 comments so far...:
Nice post, Stu. Slow over rates is a near-perennial rant from me. You're right in that having pitches that help bowlers give them an incentive to bowl more overs. But, if you just threw away that a tea break lasting 20 minutes, you add 3-4 overs with very little effort!
Then, you ensure that floodlights are used when they need to be.
Yeh - but we can't wish for exciting, explosive, agreesive (read entertaining) fast bowlers on one hand, then expect them to bowl 90 overs in 40 degree heat without a break, and drinks etc, on a featherbed wicket, where even less than elite batsman can score 400 in a day.
I'm not suggesting India's fab-four are less than elite for one second, but in the past (on other tours) less than elite batsman have scored too many runs. I am happy to see Lara, Tendulka or Pietersen score double tons, I even enjoy it -seriously - but let's make it a battle.
I'm also not saying this because Australia are losing now, although that possibly highlights it too me more but we need to see great contents, and then Test Cricket will squash all other forms of the game - nothing else required.
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