Why Cricket should use the Covid break to make overdue changes
The wait for cricket in 2020 is now over, and with the impact of Covid-19 the game will look very different, with players kept in bubbles, and no saliva or sweat used to shine the ball. While these changes are being implemented, the time is ripe for other long-overdue changes, to finally be added to the game.
LBW has been one of the constants of cricket, not changing much since the 1930s and so any alteration will be met with fierce opposition. However, cricket has changed drastically since then, with the introduction of white ball cricket making the game almost unrecognisable from what was played almost a century ago. One of the rules that now stifles cricket is that you cannot be out LBW if the ball pitches outside leg stump, designed to stop medium pace bowlers coming around the wicket and aiming at the pads. This is now outdated, as with the introduction of bigger hitting, bowling that line has a much greater risk of being smashed for six over long on or cow corner, meaning it is a fair risk to take. Leg spinners are also prevented from getting LBWs, which has resulted in a decline in leg spinners at the top level of the game. Test teams are often not picking specialist leg spinners, with England and Australia both using batsmen, Joe Denly and Marnus Labuschagne in the recent Ashes series. In 2019, the only leg spinner in the top 20 wicket takers is Rashid Khan. Clearly representing an imbalance in the game, and therefore to combat this, so leg spinners have an opportunity to take wickets throughout an entire game, not just when there is an enormous rough outside of the leg stump on day five of a test match. This can be done if batsmen are no longer able to just pad away any threatening ball that pitches outside leg, and so enabling the art of leg spin back to once again be a part of the red ball game.
Another alarming trend is the increasing rate of scoring in ODI cricket, which is due to the introduction of two new balls. On the outset, this seems like something that would help bowlers, but the additional swing generated in the first few overs is made redundant by the ball staying harder for longer, as well as there being no opportunity for reverse swing. The trend is clear to see, with average ODI scores heading up from 234.9 in 2012, when the rule was changed, to 251.0 in 2019. England scored 481 in 2016, which is pleasing for fans, but completely kills the game. Whilst T20 is a mode of game that inherently favours the batsman, ODI should run this way, and bowlers in the death should be prized for their ability to take wickets with reverse swing, not keeping the run-rate below 10. The revoking of this rule will lead to a more even contest between bat and ball. Batsmen that hit the ball a significant distance will not loose this ability, but bowlers that can reverse swing the ball, like Wasim Akram used to do, will be prized, paving the way for closer and more entertaining games. Many purists have suggested widening the boundaries or limiting bat sizes to combat the problem of high scoring, but a simpler way to achieve this without compromising the abilities of batsmen is to scrap there being two new balls in ODIs.
These two changes will be relatively easy to implement and will add new skills to bowlers’ armouries as batsmen continue to become more powerful. This means that games will be a closer contest and consequently a more fun watch for fans. Bowling is an essential part to Cricket, and cannot just be seen as a defence mechanism to the batsmen scoring, and with these changes implemented, bowlers will be able to flourish.