msb314
ODI Debutant
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2014
- Runs
- 10,732
- Post of the Week
- 2
By all means - England score of 481/6 is an incredible feat flat pitches or not. It takes incredible hitting and concentration to play at a such a RR and I'm sure the folks who attended this game will remember it for many years to come 
Now it seems like a lot of people are complaining about flat pitches, 2 new balls, short boundaries etc and are unhappy with the state of the LOI game as it is.
But here is the issue...
Ever since cricket became a "commercialized" sport back in the 1970's and TV viewing became accessible to the common public and the game was no longer just followed by "purists" who enjoyed the art of bowling as much as the art of batting - the outcome was always going to be a form of entertainment geared towards batting.
The wheels were set in motion back in the 1970's when Kerry Packer launched World Series Cricket (WSC). Although it eventually faded away - it left a lasting legacy that is still felt today where competitive schedules, huge TV rights, large salaries guaranteed that the focus of cricket was always going to be "entertainment" rather than showing technically sound cricketers and matches.
Other factors have contributed as well.
The 1990's saw the growth of TV deals and commercialized cricket even further and also saw the rise of Sachin Tendulkar as a global cricketing superstar - who happened to be a batsman As the fastest growth was being experienced in India due to their population and economic potential - it was natural that the Indian public and bidding youth cricketers would idolize Sachin and enjoy the batting art of the game more than bowling.
West Indies and Pakistan had been traditional powerhouses in producing fast bowlers but both nations had faded away from being a top cricketing team by the onset of this century - obviously WI more so than Pakistan. So bowling became even more of a lost art than it had been at that stage. Hence, upcoming cricketers were even less inclined to become bowlers than batsman.
LOI cricket played in Sharjah during the late 1990's and early 2000's really did help tap the market potential of subcontinental viewers due to India and Pakistan frequently playing there. By then - it was apparent that the public wanted "entertainment" and a balanced game between bat and ball is not what they wanted
Even looking at Pakistan that produced great bowlers throughout their history. Just look at how much Shahid Afridi is idolized By stats - he is a mediocre cricketer but when he batted - he guaranteed entertainment by hitting 4's and 6's and accelerated the scoring rate rapidly. The Pakistani crowd loved him and hence he became our most marketable athlete we have ever produced. It became apparent that our public did not want to see defensive / slow batting. Aggressive batting is what they wanted
T20 cricket and IPL came much later into the picture so IMO - we cannot fault them for the state of affairs today. T20 cricket guaranteed entertainment in a few hours and since the public enjoyed fast batting and run fests - all IPL pitches were always going to be flat and would reward teams who were stacked with batsman. Of course - it is not surprise that the highest bidding is always done for batsman rather than bowlers or all-rounders and the most marketable players are Kohli, ABD, Gayle, MS Dhoni, Jos Butler,Alex Hales etc. They guarantee entertainment by delivering fast scoring which is what the public wants to see and hence attract more attention and become viable marketing prospects.
Now as a cricket lover and purist - I still enjoy bowling as much batting! Amir's spell in the CT final will always blow my breathe away no matter how much I watch it!
However, we must realize we are in the minority.
We must accept that Test cricket and even low scoring ODi games are no longer commercially viable as that is not what the public wants to see anymore. More specifically:
- casual fans do not want to see slow defensive batting "tuk tuk"
- casual are not interesting in seeing slower balls, off cutters or leg cutters
- casual fans do not want to see bouncers or yorkers
- casual fans do not want to see seam or swing bowling.
- casual fans definitely do NOT want to see a rank turner where the ball is spinning miles
The casual fans DOES want to see fast scoring / huge 6's and 5's along with as few batsman getting out as possible.
In business terms - the market dynamic in cricket has changed very significantly during the last few decades and so high scoring games like the one today is simply catering towards the market. To be blunt - it is only going to get worse as more and more people want to see a batting slugfest. It is likely that 500 or even 600 in ODI's could be breached soon.
In summary - blaming high scoring games on a few irrelevant rule changes such as 2 new balls or short boundaries etc. is being shortsighted since the real root cause for such games goes much deeper as discussed above. To sum it up - we live in a free market economy and the game of cricket is adjusting to market changes and delivering the product that the consumer wants
Now it seems like a lot of people are complaining about flat pitches, 2 new balls, short boundaries etc and are unhappy with the state of the LOI game as it is.
But here is the issue...
Ever since cricket became a "commercialized" sport back in the 1970's and TV viewing became accessible to the common public and the game was no longer just followed by "purists" who enjoyed the art of bowling as much as the art of batting - the outcome was always going to be a form of entertainment geared towards batting.
The wheels were set in motion back in the 1970's when Kerry Packer launched World Series Cricket (WSC). Although it eventually faded away - it left a lasting legacy that is still felt today where competitive schedules, huge TV rights, large salaries guaranteed that the focus of cricket was always going to be "entertainment" rather than showing technically sound cricketers and matches.
Other factors have contributed as well.
The 1990's saw the growth of TV deals and commercialized cricket even further and also saw the rise of Sachin Tendulkar as a global cricketing superstar - who happened to be a batsman
As the fastest growth was being experienced in India due to their population and economic potential - it was natural that the Indian public and bidding youth cricketers would idolize Sachin and enjoy the batting art of the game more than bowling.West Indies and Pakistan had been traditional powerhouses in producing fast bowlers but both nations had faded away from being a top cricketing team by the onset of this century - obviously WI more so than Pakistan. So bowling became even more of a lost art than it had been at that stage. Hence, upcoming cricketers were even less inclined to become bowlers than batsman.
LOI cricket played in Sharjah during the late 1990's and early 2000's really did help tap the market potential of subcontinental viewers due to India and Pakistan frequently playing there. By then - it was apparent that the public wanted "entertainment" and a balanced game between bat and ball is not what they wanted
Even looking at Pakistan that produced great bowlers throughout their history. Just look at how much Shahid Afridi is idolized
By stats - he is a mediocre cricketer but when he batted - he guaranteed entertainment by hitting 4's and 6's and accelerated the scoring rate rapidly. The Pakistani crowd loved him and hence he became our most marketable athlete we have ever produced. It became apparent that our public did not want to see defensive / slow batting. Aggressive batting is what they wanted T20 cricket and IPL came much later into the picture so IMO - we cannot fault them for the state of affairs today. T20 cricket guaranteed entertainment in a few hours and since the public enjoyed fast batting and run fests - all IPL pitches were always going to be flat and would reward teams who were stacked with batsman. Of course - it is not surprise that the highest bidding is always done for batsman rather than bowlers or all-rounders and the most marketable players are Kohli, ABD, Gayle, MS Dhoni, Jos Butler,Alex Hales etc. They guarantee entertainment by delivering fast scoring which is what the public wants to see and hence attract more attention and become viable marketing prospects.
Now as a cricket lover and purist - I still enjoy bowling as much batting! Amir's spell in the CT final will always blow my breathe away no matter how much I watch it!
However, we must realize we are in the minority.
We must accept that Test cricket and even low scoring ODi games are no longer commercially viable as that is not what the public wants to see anymore. More specifically:
- casual fans do not want to see slow defensive batting "tuk tuk"
- casual are not interesting in seeing slower balls, off cutters or leg cutters
- casual fans do not want to see bouncers or yorkers
- casual fans do not want to see seam or swing bowling.
- casual fans definitely do NOT want to see a rank turner where the ball is spinning miles
The casual fans DOES want to see fast scoring / huge 6's and 5's along with as few batsman getting out as possible.
In business terms - the market dynamic in cricket has changed very significantly during the last few decades and so high scoring games like the one today is simply catering towards the market. To be blunt - it is only going to get worse as more and more people want to see a batting slugfest. It is likely that 500 or even 600 in ODI's could be breached soon.
In summary - blaming high scoring games on a few irrelevant rule changes such as 2 new balls or short boundaries etc. is being shortsighted since the real root cause for such games goes much deeper as discussed above. To sum it up - we live in a free market economy and the game of cricket is adjusting to market changes and delivering the product that the consumer wants
)
