Last week the officials of ICC met for a meeting for which the agenda was as follows – is 5 days too long for a test cricket format? A proposal was put to cut down the number of days to 4 which may very well come into picture any time soon. This leads us to some interesting questions. Have we come to a situation where watching a 50 over match has become tiring? Are we seeing an end to that era of cricket which produced technically brilliant players in the class of Gavaskar, Sobbers, Border, Bradman and so on. Over the last decade or so cricket has become so fast paced that there are a lot of reasons for a genuine lover of the game like me to be worried about.
When one day cricket was started in the year 1971 it was accepted worldwide as a change that led to results being produced in a matter of one day. Gradually we saw the overs getting shortened to 50. Then came the 15 over rule having field restrictions and now we have 20 overs of field restrictions in the latest one day format. When 20-20 was introduced into international cricket in 2005, it was not meant to be played very often to an extent of deglamourizing the traditional way of playing cricket. But in the last 4 years the consequence of 20-20 has just been that. Test cricket except for the current ashes are being played in empty stands even at India. People have started to get restless with the 50 over format and there would be harldy anyone who would watch the game without switching between channels. Bowlers who was seen as equals along with batsmen till the 1990′s has almost been converted to an insignificant lot, thanks to the change in rules which ICC brings in every now and then which are always in favor of the batsmen. The IPL’s, ICL’s and the World 20-20 has added to the woes.
What a cricket lover like me, enjoys is watching a batsman playing the ball according to its merit and the bowler taking pride in bouncing off a batsmen although the current set of rules makes someone apprehensive of bowling a bouncer itself. Traditional cricket shots like the cover drive, the cut, pull, leg glance, sweep etc are seen very little these days and some innovative shots has taken the limelight like the one handed slog, reverse sweep, back scoop, the ‘dilshan shot’ and so on. Batsmen gets frustrated if they are not able to score in one ball. There was a time when a good leave outside the offstump was appreciated, but one would not be surprised if someone is soon critisized for making such a ‘mistake’.
There is always a great degree of entertainment which the longer version of the game has given to cricket lovers over the years. ICC on this regards should take serious steps that any form of cricket longer than the 20-20 version becomes obselete. What surprises me is however the very little protest made by the players who have played the game for so long. May be the rewards that come with the IPL’s have made people oversee the charm of the game. Giving due respect to the 20-20 format, i would hope for a serious re-thinking of making the game of cricket a fast paced one thus making it loose the grace and pride the game has been carrying for over a century now.
