Melbourne, Feb 20 (IANS) Former Australia batsman Mike Hussey believes the increasing benchmark scores in One-Day International (ODI) cricket is the direct result of a demand for entertainment from various parties.
The prevalence of 300-plus totals already at this World Cup has led to a chorus of comments that ODI cricket is now too heavily dominated by batsmen, reports cricket.com.au.
"Fans and broadcasters and administrators want to see excitement. They want to see fours and sixes being hit," Hussey said Thursday.
"They don't want to see batsmen struggling and dot balls, plays and misses and things like that. I'm sure they'd love to see the wickets, but maybe the balance has gone too far."
Increased fielding restrictions, shorter boundaries and bigger bats have all had an effect on expanding what is considered a benchmark score across 50 overs.
Meanwhile, the introduction of two new balls appears only to have forced a rethink in strategy, with batting sides now saving wickets for an explosion of aggression in the final 15 overs instead of targeting the match’s opening exchanges as the time to tee off.
“Maybe that’s the challenge for the bowlers, but they’ve improved. They went through developing new deliveries like slower-ball, bouncers and wide yorkers and different types of slower balls. Perhaps they have to keep improving as well," Hussey told cricket.com.au.
Hussey is working as a coaching consultant for South Africa in the World Cup.
Hussey, who played 185 ODIs between 2004-12, says the standard first-innings total at World Cup 2015 is as high as ever, and it’s a point the numbers seem to bear out; in eight matches to date, the sides batting first have averaged 288.75, a figure dragged down by Scotland’s 142 against New Zealand.
“Here in Australia and New Zealand conditions are pretty good, so if you’ve got good conditions it seems 300 is the par score,” he said.
“When one-day internationals started, 200 was a defendable total. When I was playing the benchmark was 250 or 260 and it seems to have increased again. It’s gone up to 300, maybe 280 to 300 is a par score these days, which is amazing.”
In his new position as a member of the MCC’s World Cricket Committee, former England captain Andrew Strauss concurred with Hussey’s sentiment following a report that looked at restricting bat sizes last July.
"Our deliberations were centred around - has the balance of the game swung too far in the direction of the batsman, and also, what does the crowd want to see, what does entertaining cricket look like?” Strauss said.
"I think for the time being we feel there's a decent balance there still, that balance still exists. But clearly it needs monitoring to make sure it doesn't slip too far in one direction in the future."
Hussey said he was surprised by the apparent ease with which teams were capable of chasing down 300-plus totals in 50-over matches nowadays.
“What stands out to me is when Australia played England down in Hobart (in last month’s tri-series) and Australia were chasing 300 and they seemed to do it easy,” Hussey, who was picked up by Chennai Super Kings to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015, said.
“I know when I was playing if we were chasing 300 there’d be a lot of panic in the dressing room. I know there’s different field restrictions now with only having four (fielders) out (outside the inner circle). But still the players are not fearful of those big scores anymore," he added.
"T20 probably has played a bit of a role in that and then the field restrictions have increased the scores.”
NASA signs $ 115 million agreement with Boeing, know what will change in aviation
NASA Boeing Partnership: American Space Agency NASA and aircraft manufacturer Boeing are working together on a project that will make future flights environment-friendly. NASA and Boeing will work
Congress, AAP, or Owaisi Bhaijaan, on whose side will the Muslims of Gujarat go; BJP's plan too
In Gujarat, once again the opportunity has come to the people when they will elect the government for 5 years. Apart from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been ruling for 27 years, the
The terrorist attack on Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir: Firing on two Kashmiri Pandits working in apple orchards in Shopian, one dead; second injured
Target killing has happened once again in South Kashmir. In the Chhotepora area of Shopian, terrorists opened fire on two brothers working in an apple orchard. One died in this, while the other
Shaun Pollock expects De Villiers to fire against Ireland
Canberra, March 2 (IANS) Former South Africa cricket captain Shaun Pollock on Monday said current skipper A.B. de Villiers could produce "something really special" in their World Cup Pool B match
President calls for gender equity in India
New Delhi, March 8 (IANS) Terming equality, liberty and dignity as women's "sacred rights", President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday asked the people to reaffirm their commitment to ensure gender
Amber Rose 'a bad mom', says Khalifa
Los Angeles, Feb 18 (IANS) Rapper Wiz Khalifa has reportedly compiled a long list of complaints against his estranged wife Amber Rose, including that she neglects their son.Khalifa wants the
Tariff for using over 20,000 litres water hiked by 10 percent
New Delhi, March 19 (IANS) The AAP government in Delhi on Thursday hiked the water tariff by 10 percent a month for those households consuming more than the free supply of 20,000 litres per
Transfer of DIG investigating Lakhimpur violence: Upendra Agarwal, who arrested the minister's son, removed, five IGs also changed
The Uttar Pradesh government has transferred 6 IPS officers late on Thursday night. The most important name in this is that of DIG Upendra Agarwal. He was the head of the team probing the Lakhimpur
Corona intimidating in the country, Covid-19's growing figure in these 10 states and union territories
The Health Ministry said on Saturday that 79.32 percent of new cases of coronavirus in the country have come from ten states and union territories, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi. The
Sonia Gandhi : BJP leader's controversial statement put Rahul in a mental asylum and send Sonia to her maternal home
Jagat Singh, BJP district head of Bharatpur in Rajasthan, has given a controversial statement regarding former Congress President Rahul Gandhi. He said that Rahul has come abroad spitting on our