Ricky Ponting has reignited the debate that has been occupying a lot of mind space over the past few years—are the modern bats making the contest between batsmen and bowlers unfair?
In the past decade, cricket bats have made a lot of progress in terms of thickness, lighter pick-up and in hitting the ball farther. In fact, if you compare them with the bats used a few decades ago, the modern willow looks like an equipment from an altogether different sport.
The best part about this progression is that thickness hasn’t added to the weight of the bat, for the pick-up is still very light. If the thickness came at the cost of added weight, the contest would’ve been even because wielding a heavier willow comes with its pitfalls. But since that’s not the case, the contest is heavily lopsided in the batsman’s favour.
Also, one must not ignore the general bias towards making flatter pitches and pulling in the boundary ropes. It’s widely believed that the crowd loves fours and sixes more than wickets and therefore, those who prepare the pitches try to give them more of them in every game.
David Warner has come out in full support of the modern bat
David Warner has come out in support of the modern bat and Josh Hazlewood has supported Ponting’s concerns about the unfair contest. There are always two sides to such debates, in this instance:
1) Current international batsmen
2) Former cricketers and current international bowlers
It is understandable that modern-day batsmen would feel aggrieved at somebody suggesting that their batting prowess has a lot to do with the willow that they wield. After all, the same bat in a lesser batsman’s hands isn’t half as effective and also, it’s slightly unfair to pin the blame on him when he’s playing within the laws of the game.
While his concerns are genuine, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that more runs are scored in fewer overs than ever before. The ball is indeed travelling farther than it ever has; in fact, some of the top edges and miscued hits are landing in the crowd and not in the fielder’s lap, and that must ring the alarm bells. As far as the current international bowlers are concerned, they can also be criticised – with some claiming their moaning is just to make up for a lack of skill.
The general decline in the quality of bowling is palpable and it’s definitely one of the reasons this contest has become uneven. Therefore, it’s imperative to get views from cricketers who are still associated with the game but aren’t playing it anymore. The likes of Ponting, Dravid, Lara, Warne, Akram etc. should be the ones entrusted to suggest the way forward.
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Ponting and Ian Chappell have suggested regulating the thickness of the bat; all bats would need to go through a ring (something similar to the ones we have to measure balls). Currently, only the width is mentioned under the laws of the game. Perhaps, it’s time to consider putting the maximum thickness in the laws too. If that’s unacceptable for some reason, how about allowing the bowlers to tamper the ball as long as no foreign object like a bottle cap or blade is used, and the seam is not touched (because that makes the ball becomes unreasonably soft)?
Or how about giving them the option to take the second new ball at any stage of the game as opposed to only after the 80th over? The time is ripe for empowering the bowling clan a little more to restore balance, for a lopsided contest won’t have a loyal audience for long.
David Warner, in defence of thicker bats, raised a valid point about the quality of pitches. In today’s T20 world, the pitches have become identically flat across the globe and that’s also adding to bowlers’ woes. While there’s merit in encouraging curators to make slightly bowler-friendly surfaces, it’s impossible to make it mandatory. It is the same case with pushing the boundary ropes back to make six-hitting slightly tougher, for it’s impractical to have minimum standard dimensions to cricket stadia across the world.
What’s obvious is that balance needs to be restored – the most feasible solution for making it a reality is to either regularise the bat or empower the bowler.
