3 rules cricket can pick up from baseball to make it more exciting and bowler friendly

The game can do with a few tweaks

They are similar. They are different. Both essentially require a bat and a ball and the ball to win over the bat or vice-versa. However, one loves draws and drawn out affairs – at least the traditional format does, while the other is, relatively, a 2-minute noodles affair with no tolerance whatsoever for draws and ties and the like.

As cricket shrinks and shrinks further, seemingly becoming more like baseball, it is interesting to note that cricket has not actually adopted anything from baseball in terms of rules or techniques that can improve it. It is only its, or its administrators’, nature, impatience and greed that have made it like baseball. Be it the emphasis on six-hitting or bowlers losing guile, cricket in its essence is becoming baseball like.

As someone who has intensely loved Test cricket and the huge examination of various skills that it brings to the table, recent developments cannot but have caused immense grief to any true lover of the game. If the amount of T20 cricket played across the world is not regulated, Test cricket – the type of cricket that defines cricket – might find an end much quicker than greenery on this planet.

I love baseball, too. It looks and is very much a watered-down variant of cricket, but it has its own variations, thrills and spills that demand addiction. So, when this soul – depressed at the way cricket was going – was watching baseball one day, it saw a few things that cricket would do well to adopt. As ironic as that sounds, there is actually something that cricket can pick up from baseball to improve itself without losing any of its characters. Thus far, we’ve unwittingly become like baseball; now, lets willingly pick up something from baseball to improve cricket.

It is also not surprising that the rules i speak of invariably gravitate towards assisting the bowlers and the fielding team, as that is one area to that cricket administrators have blatantly meted out step-motherly treatment to. An ideal cricket game is when the bat and ball can compete on a level playing field. T20 is seeing to it that this is no longer the case.

So, here are 3 baseball rules that, if adapted at some level to cricket, can ensure a level-playing field to some extent while also introducing some speed and more excitement into the game.

Bowling rotation

Bowling, especially in the limited versions of cricket, has become increasingly compartmentalized. The bowler bowling with a new ball might not be adept bowling at the death. Similarly, a bowler good at swinging the new ball might not be so good at reversing an old ball.

How great would it be in this batsmen-dominated era that a captain can have the option of calling upon specific bowlers for specific purposes. How great would it be if he can have the option of calling in a leg-spinner if the opposition has right handers batting and off-spinners if a leftie is taking strike. I am not suggesting an increase in the number of bowlers who are there on the pitch at one point of time but for the captain to have the flexibility to swap in and swap out bowlers based on the circumstances.

This will also lead to a decreased load on the bowlers and in turn reduce the number of injuries they are facing, especially the fast bowlers. Recent times have seen several skillful fast bowlers quit longer forms of the game for the sake of offerings that are there in the T20 leagues. Cricket just cannot afford this. Cricket without skillful bowlers is like India without spicy food. Neither can survive.

Remove the boundary line restriction

I understand that boundary ropes were introduced when there was felt a desperate need to increase the number of boundaries hit. This was the time when cricket bats still resembled wood. Now, they most definitely are not. Modern day cricketing bats cause as much damage as the lightsabers of Star Wars. We no longer need boundary ropes. Instances of mis-timed hits resulting in 6s have been numerous in recent times. This is just killing bowlers, especially spinners. The end of the playing field should be the boundary. Period. Let the fielder catch or stop the ball as long as he is within the field of play.

Let’s also take out this foolish rule that the fielder cannot touch the edges of the boundary while in contact with the ball. Let the focus of the skill be on catching and fielding the ball and not on whether he is good at avoiding things. This will also ensure cricket is got rid of some incredibly tiresome TV replays that make the game (which is accused to be slow anyway) even slower.

How many times have we seen a TV umpire waste time in determining whether the fielder was touching the rope while he was in contact with the ball. If cricket administrators are worried about unruly crowds in the subcontinent gobbling up a diving player, well, they might as well not be administrators. You will find in this baseball compilation the kind of quality you see from fielders if they do not have ropes and other crap to worry about.

Double play

Imagine a scenario in cricket where a ball is hit way up high into the air. Provided the catch is taken, the dejected batsman walks away while the one at the non-striker loiters around or, if alert enough, thinks about crossing ends. Lets spruce up the whole scenario. Why not, like in baseball, let the fielder take the catch to dismiss the striker as well as give him the opportunity to run the non-striker out if he is lax. You can also have a double play in a situation where in both batsman can be run out.

Here is a compilation of some exciting double plays by the Yankees of New York during the 2011 season,