Allowing 2 bouncers per over is a good move!!!

By Francis Saldanha
Bellevision Media Network

07 June 2012: When ODI’s first started they were almost like mini tests, they were entertaining and largely unpredictable as captains weren’t forced to follow a bunch of useless rules and regulations. Scrap all the fancy rules and allow captains to decide how they wish to set their fields. Allow bowlers to bowl how they want, anything down the leg side, or unplayable is a wide.
At the rate the game rules are being changed there will be a time where we won’t be able to compare stats of players from different eras. There will not be any value for records like fastest 100 or 50 when outfielders are even more reduced in future. I hope these people let the game be alone without meddling with it.

 

The ICC’s cricket committee has recommended the number of bouncers permitted in an ODI over be increased to two. They also concluded the bowling power play is removed and the number of fielders permitted outside the 30-yard circle reduced from five to four. The changes are designed to "improve the balance between bat and ball and to create an identity for ODIs distinct from the Test and Twenty20 formats". Also the Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) method of calculating scores in rain-affected matches should remain. An Indian mathematician, V Jayadevan, had proposed his system - the VJD method to replace D/L but the committee unanimously agreed there was no evidence of any significant flaws in the D/L method or that any improvements could be offered by the VJD method. In addition, to improve over-rates, it was recommended that drinks should not be brought onto the field other than at official drinks breaks and players should always assume a not-out decision following a review and be ready to immediately resume play after the decision is made.

 

It is like trying a variety of costumes and makeup on a dead body!  Nobody has the appetite anymore for meaningless bilateral ODI series. This is the only solution, four outfielders instead of five is absolutely unnecessary. How can spinners bowl two bouncers in an over? And in One Day Matches most of the overs are bowled by spinners especially in subcontinent pitches. The rules are changing no need of any rules wherever captain want to set the field & how much players inside or outside is up to the captain from 11to 50 over’s. Up to shoulder height if a bowler wants to give six bouncers allowed. Don’t restrict and complicate the game. Nothing will be improved! With four fielders maximum outside, this will show who are going to be the better captains with their field placing.

 

Enough of this standard field of long on and off, 3rd man, fine leg and the 5th jumping between either sides of the wicket. Two bouncers an over would even up the contest between bat and ball but 4 outfielders instead of five is just ridiculous. Has T20 not devalued the boundary enough already? And how can we acknowledge any world records that are set? I am already dark enough on all the subcontinent batsmen setting records on flat pitches and minuscule fields but that is an argument for another day. The rules are changing like the command chain on a sinking ship. Let all the restrictions be removed but with a string that any wide or no ball be treated as FREE HIT. Then bowlers will bowl straight and batsman will have chance to score if they are capable of allowing only 4 players outside is again swinging the balance to batsmen and 2 bouncers an over cannot be the compensation for that, as the pitches world over are getting slow and with batsmen having all the protection, the day is not far, when we’ll see a batsman flat batting a bouncer over bowlers head for a boundary.

 

 On the other hand removing bowling power play and then changing the fielding restriction seems to be a sign of some twisted compromise. Just because the current captains haven’t figured out how to use the bowling power play does not mean an enterprising captain in the future won’t figure out its use. Keep the fielding restriction so that spinners have some chance. Using two balls is a bad idea. We want to see more reverse swing, one of the most beautiful deliveries in cricket in ODIs. So, except for the bouncers, the rest of the rules are not progressive but poorly thought out solutions. Is the Cricket committee trying to kill the ODIs softly?

There are way too many changes. People don’t know what the rules are because they change so often. One rule they should implement is that every rule change should be given at least 3 years to determine how well it works. It takes that long to see what effect the change will have, once sides get used to it and work out a strategy to use it to their advantage. Only when that has happened can it be judged properly.

 ICC has taken right steps towards hastening the demise of ODI cricket. If you are so concerned about the balance between bat and ball, why not get rid of all the power plays? Why not get rid of restrictions on bouncers entirely? How does reducing number of fielders outside the circle favor the bowler? How do you know that VJD method does not offer any benefit over DL when you have not even tried it? Did you have any evidence that DL was better than the previous rule? The rule about unofficial drinks break is ridiculous for reasons others have already pointed out. Moreover, would you also extend it to other stoppages in play such as changing cricket equipment?