Sport

CRICKET WORLD CUP

The remarkable revolution in batting on full display at #CWC19

The remarkable revolution in batting on full display at #CWC19
With rule changes favouring a rapid accumulation of runs, cricket fans are waiting with bated breath to see which team will be the first to clock the 500-run mark in an ODI innings. (Photo: REUTERS / Dinuka Liyanawatte)

Cricket has come a long way from the days of 60 overs, heavy bats and low run rates. Nowadays, thanks to the evolution of the game, cricket matches resemble a classic action film.

England recently broke a long-standing record when they became the first team to record seven consecutive scores of 300 or more in one-day internationals (ODIs), usurping Australia’s record set in 2007. The feat of teams scoring 300-plus in ODIs has become the norm and has been on full display at this year’s Cricket World Cup.

Even that doesn’t guarantee you victory these days though, as the West Indies found out against Bangladesh. In their fourth match of the tournament, they registered 321-8. Their opponents on the day, Bangladesh, were successful in chasing down that total with nine overs to spare, for a seven-wicket victory.

The game is vastly different from what it was a few years ago. Since that jaw-dropping game between South Africa and Australia at the Wanderers in Johannesburg 13 years ago, in which they both breached 400 runs — a first for ODIs — the 400-run mark has been clocked 19 times, by six different teams.

Half of those 400-or-more scores have come in the past five years, with the highest coming from England, where they registered a score of 481-6 off 50 overs against Australia. Moreover, it is in this period that the highest score at a World Cup was set. This when Australia ran up 417-6 against Afghanistan in the 2015 edition.

This penchant for scores in the region of 300 and 400 in recent times has people asking questions of whether a team can set a completely new standard and reach 500 runs at the 2019 World Cup.

How did we get to this point, though? Well, the change in how teams score runs is due to several changes introduced to the game over the years.

These include changes in the design of bats, the rapid growth of Twenty20 cricket and the introduction of fielding restrictions — to name a few. Freakishly talented and innovative batsmen such as South Africa’s AB de Villiers, Australia’s Adam Gilchrist and India’s MS Dhoni have also helped shape how teams score runs.

Batsmen two decades ago were wielding willow, which is extremely heavy. Even though the bats of yesteryear were very durable, it was not easy scoring runs with them because of their weight.

Fast forward to 2019 and you will find that the bats, even though they appear heavy, are quite light. This is because the wood they are made of is not as compressed as that of the old bats.

That makes them less durable of course; the sight of a bat capitulating when it makes contact with a ball has become as common as thunderstorms on the Highveld in summer. Nowadays batsman can go through 12 bats in a season. However, these lighter bats have allowed batsmen room for creativity when they make shots (think de Villiers’s reverse scoop shot, which is now commonplace). Especially in T20, where exuberant run rates are the order of the day.

The evolution of the bat is in complete contrast to the evolution of the ball, which has largely stayed the same, with the only alteration being the introduction of the second ball in a match. That’s not to say that bowlers haven’t been able to bring the nifty tricks they use in T20 to ODIs. They have. The landscape just favours the batsmen more. Runs entertain crowds.

Cricket grounds have also shrunk, with boundaries that used to be between 85 and 90 metres in the 90s being compressed to 60–70 metres. With the bats that players use in today’s game, even a slight edge can see the ball fly to the boundary. The introduction of power plays — which restricts how the fielding team places fielders — has also contributed to the trend of scoring big in ODIs.

Under the current power play restrictions, which have been in effect since 2015, there are three phases of fielding restrictions. In power play one – from overs one to 10 — a maximum of two fielders can be outside the 30-yard circle. In the second power play — from overs 11 to 40 — a maximum of four fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle. In the final power play — from overs 41 to 50 — a maximum of five fielders can be placed outside the 30-yard circle.

With all these changes favouring a rapid accumulation of runs, and teams already having shown they are very much in the mood for big scores, fans wait with bated breath to see who will be the first to clock the 500-run mark in an innings. DM

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