19-06-2019, 13:48
This IS a brilliant thread largely thanks to Ska'dForLife - WBA .......... but do you really really like the cricket? I know games develop and change, but does what we are seeing do any more than merely approximate to the actual game?
Eoin Morgan hit 17 sixes. That is a century in sixes! The reason a six was a six used to be that it was harder to score than a four. In this game we have fielder limitations to make fours more difficult, whilst bats with huge sweetspots and plenty of meat make going for a six almost a safety-first option. When even a mishit will carry the boundary all you have to do is get it over Ben Stokes and you're fine. Haven't we created the World Subbuteo Cup of Cricket?
I don't mind the big-hitting (Chris Gayle and Jos Buttler can come to tea any time) and I love the inventiveness in this type of cricket and the excellence it encourages in the field, but I'm convinced it will begin to pall if all we do is tinker with it to make several different versions testing essentially the same skill set ........ like The Hundred.
Call me an old fool if you like, because I am, but what I'd do to make a different version of the game is swap over the four and the six. I'd go for 45 overs a side as that could easily be accommodated in a day and would be good for spectators. I'd have no limit on the number of overs an individual bowler could bowl, a tired quickie in his 16th over would become vulnerable so slow bowlers would be well used, but batsmen would also have to find better ways of combating them than a wild slog. I'd allow fielders to be placed wherever the captain liked (so a six skimming the grass would be well worth it). AND I start each side on 100 runs (10 per wicket), and every time they lost a wicket they'd also lose ten of those bonus runs increasing the dilemma whether to chase runs or protect a wicket and save those runs. Additionally if a bowler succeeded in bowling a maiden he would take another OVER off the alloted total (so for instance if the opening over of an innings were a maiden the batting side would go down to 43 not 44 overs left! That would keep batsmen and fielders on their toes on the sixth ball.) AND DUCKWORTH LEWIS WOULD BE ALLOWED NOWHERE NEAR MY FORM OF THE GAME, nor would light meters, and umpires would be encouraged to swap from a red to a white ball if the light became dicey. Only if the game became physically dangerous or the captains agreed would a game be stopped and declared a draw.
Eoin Morgan hit 17 sixes. That is a century in sixes! The reason a six was a six used to be that it was harder to score than a four. In this game we have fielder limitations to make fours more difficult, whilst bats with huge sweetspots and plenty of meat make going for a six almost a safety-first option. When even a mishit will carry the boundary all you have to do is get it over Ben Stokes and you're fine. Haven't we created the World Subbuteo Cup of Cricket?
I don't mind the big-hitting (Chris Gayle and Jos Buttler can come to tea any time) and I love the inventiveness in this type of cricket and the excellence it encourages in the field, but I'm convinced it will begin to pall if all we do is tinker with it to make several different versions testing essentially the same skill set ........ like The Hundred.
Call me an old fool if you like, because I am, but what I'd do to make a different version of the game is swap over the four and the six. I'd go for 45 overs a side as that could easily be accommodated in a day and would be good for spectators. I'd have no limit on the number of overs an individual bowler could bowl, a tired quickie in his 16th over would become vulnerable so slow bowlers would be well used, but batsmen would also have to find better ways of combating them than a wild slog. I'd allow fielders to be placed wherever the captain liked (so a six skimming the grass would be well worth it). AND I start each side on 100 runs (10 per wicket), and every time they lost a wicket they'd also lose ten of those bonus runs increasing the dilemma whether to chase runs or protect a wicket and save those runs. Additionally if a bowler succeeded in bowling a maiden he would take another OVER off the alloted total (so for instance if the opening over of an innings were a maiden the batting side would go down to 43 not 44 overs left! That would keep batsmen and fielders on their toes on the sixth ball.) AND DUCKWORTH LEWIS WOULD BE ALLOWED NOWHERE NEAR MY FORM OF THE GAME, nor would light meters, and umpires would be encouraged to swap from a red to a white ball if the light became dicey. Only if the game became physically dangerous or the captains agreed would a game be stopped and declared a draw.