Endangered bowlers face the prospect of extinction

Boundaries are becoming increasingly easier to hit

Cricket needs a conservatory, and soon. The recently concluded one-day series served as the perfect argument for the need to preserve. It is about time for the men running the game to step in and act to prevent complete ruin. In deciding to alter the rules of the game to satiate the greed for instant gains, cricket is choosing to kill the proverbial golden goose instead of collecting the daily egg. It is no wonder then that bowlers have been reduced virtually to an appendage that serves to feed the lusty batsmen the ammunition needed for their brutal blows.

The gentleman’s game was designed to be beautiful, expressive and exciting; it was intended to be intuitive and insightful. But it was never meant to be savage. It was always a game that could turn in a moment – a probing delivery that undid a well set batsman, a measured response by a batsman that helped reconstructed an innings from the rubble or a fielder’s inspired act of athleticism to upend a batsman. At the same time, it was also a game designed to play out over a prolonged period of time.

That was how cricket was meant to be – collective success built on coherent works of individual brilliance with the bat, ball and in the field.

Unfortunately today, cricket is no more than a drumfest that relies on a relentless hammering of the ball to all parts of the ground. Often fielders are stuck in unwieldy places, forced to remain within their brief ambit, governed by some ridiculously one-sided restrictions. This has resulted in a free rein for the batsmen, who are willing swing at everything without a care in the world.

The maximum has always provided erotic relief to both player and spectator. The ball sailing over the rope held a romantic charm that momentarily elevated the striker into an exalted position. Even as the bowler stood with his hands on the hip, desperately trying to be stoic in expression – spectators burst into an orgasmic bout of delirious cheers. It was a warm contrast in emotions that layered cricket and made it meaningful, for it was a release that came only in rare moments of congruence between the eyes, limbs and the willow, which served as an extension of the arms.

The advent of T20 and the progressive dilution of rules to facilitate attacking cricket have rendered the bowler into a necessary prop with limited control over the flow of the game. Not that it is anything new for a batsman to strike a hearty blow to send the ball soaring into the stands. It’s just that earlier, it was a spontaneous act of aggressive expression without the aid of contrived rules that kept spaces vacant for the batsman. Professional sport cannot resort to exhibitionism to pander to its dumbed down audiences.

Right from the days of the legendary C. K. Nayudu, who was known to be a belligerent batsman with a penchant for clearing the ropes, the sixer held a certain charm. It was an expression that signified exuberance and freedom for the batsman, even as the bowler suffered a moment of indignant silence. But it was an event that drew ample attention considering that it was a rousing play with a stunning impact, even if it was far too sporadic.

Contemporary cricket though has witnessed an explosive increase in runs scored off boundaries, on the back of an evolving style that emphasises the role of the batsman in bold type. The sixer has a special relevance in cricket – those who witnessed the mauling of Eddie Hemmings at the hands of Kapil Dev will remember the run of play, not just for the runs scored, but also for the context and manner in which they were attained.

It was a test in which Kapil Dev, fast running out of partners, resorted to a brutal assault that ameliorated the souls of several Indian fans around the world. Responding to England’s 653-4 (decl), India had slipped to 430-9 despite centuries from Ravi Shastri and Mohammed Azharudin. With Narendra Hirwani – for many an automatic choice into the club of scurrying rabbits – at the other end, Kapil knew he lacked the luxury of time to prevent a follow-on.

What followed was an assault that stirred a nation out of its stupor. After fending off the first two deliveries, Kapil took matters into his own belligerent hands. The great all-rounder stepped out to launch Hemmings into the stands four times in a row and wiped away the 24 needed to make England bat again. Another similarly emancipating strike, albeit for Pakistani fans – was the sixer off a full toss from Chetan Sharma off the last ball of their innings to defeat India and seal an important victory.

In an era where the average bowler goes for anything between 5 and 6 runs to the over, it is no wonder that there is not a single contemporary bowler in the list of players with the 10 best economy rates over an ODI career. It is therefore unfair if someone were to make a comparison between a bowler giving away less than four runs in another era with someone who is giving away nearly six per over in the modern era. The circumstances surrounding the game of cricket have changed far too substantively to even allow it to be remotely meaningful.

Jade Dernbach has an economy rate of 6.35 after 24 ODIs, unthinkable in the bygone era

The most economic bowlers in ODI cricket are all from a bygone era that seems more and more surreal with the passage of time. Joel Garner (WI, 3.09 runs per over), Max Walker (Aus, 3.25), Mike Hendrick (Eng, 3.27), Bob Willis (Eng, 3.28) and Richard Hadlee (NZ, 3.30) are the ones with the best economy rates in limited overs cricket. Unfortunately, today’s bowlers can only dream of anything remotely resembling those rates. In fact, you will find it hard to find a contemporary player in the entire list of bowlers with good economy rates.

In the recent series between India and Australia, 3,596 runs were made by the teams at a rate of 6.64 to the over. Incredibly, the teams surpassed 300 in nine of the eleven completed innings during the series and 350 was passed on five occasions. And that is not all – the batters accounted for a whopping 107 sixes in the series, 45 more than the previous mark of 62 in a bilateral series of this nature. As if that weren’t enough, the series also contained a collection of nine centuries, over just five completed matches.

The best bowling effort for the Aussies came from Mitchell Johnson, who went for 5.68 runs to the over. Our own Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the most economical bowler for India, fared only a tad better – conceding 5.44 runs to the over. It was a merciless mauling that came to a gory climax at the Chinnaswamy stadium where the teams combined to score a whopping 38 sixes. It was an ugly slugfest that resembled anything but cricket.

It is often a mystery how cricket has survived myriads of controversial moments to remain so hugely popular amongst the audiences. While they have tolerated corruption and incompetence for many years, it is unlikely that they shall suffer this promiscuity of batsmen with the same steady minded devotion. At some point, the excessive plundering of runs is bound to turn off vast sections of the audience. It is imperative that the game acts well before such a situation presents itself via empty stadia and reluctant sponsors.

Cricket is at its best when there is a genuine duel between bat and ball. For all its explosive action, the game in Bengaluru with its 709 runs was no patch on some brilliant games where double figure knocks were a rarity. One that shall always come to mind is the classic between India and Pakistan at Sharjah.

It was a Rothmans Cup match in the summer of 1985, when India were skittled out for a paltry 125 runs. Even as disappointed fans turned off their televisions in anticipation of an easy victory for Pakistan, they crumbled from 35-1 to 41-5, raising excitement to a fever pitch. Saleem Malik and Rameez Raja sought to steady the chase, but when Ravi Shastri had the former caught at slip by Sunil Gavaskar he set off another precarious slide.

Eventually, Pakistan were dismissed for 87 to give India a most famous victory. The total runs in that match were just three more than Rohit Sharma‘s 209 in Bengaluru, but the match was way more riveting than anything that was on offer in the series decider last week.

In the past, bowlers only needed a good pep talk from their captain to come charging in to defend even a meagre score. Today, they need a seasoned hypnotist to somehow convince them that a mountain of runs can indeed be protected from a mindless onslaught from the batsmen. That is a sad commentary on the state of bowlers in the game of cricket.

The ICC has to either allow more freedom of expression with the ball or prepare to send bowlers into a conservation park to preserve them as relics from the past. There is one outside Adelaide, meant for insects, that might be willing to house a few of this tormented species.