Grumpy old men like me shook our heads in unison as T20 cricket exploded onto the world stage, but we were told stop being old and grumpy, it’s the new frontier for cricket. New audiences, they said. Families, Mums and Dads with sons and daughters alike, they said. TV revenue, they said. It will revolutionise the game, they said.
It’ll kill cricket as we know it, we all said….
15 years ago Shane Warne was the poster boy for Aussie kids every summer, the likes of Mitch Swepson, Adam Zampa and Lloyd Pope looked at Warnie, looked at leg spin bowling, as thousands of other kids did and thought “I’ll give that a go, I want to be like Warney”. As many of them, including those named above found out and continue to find out, it isn’t easy.
There’s a craft, an art to leg spin bowling and that art, that craft, is just as prevalent in batting and fast bowling. That art, that craft is now beginning to resemble some sort of drunken Jackson Pollock effort as batsman flail their bats around like light sabres warding off the dark side and bowlers invent mystery balls they don’t even have names for.
I can hear it now, junior coaches all around the country yelling “Cut it out!” ( Are they allowed to anymore? ) as Junior Batter in the nets does his best Smudge or Marnus impersonation. I struggle to watch Steve Smith at the crease, I love the fact he plunders runs for our country ( I’m not yet back in love with him post sandpaper gate ) but I simply cannot bring myself to appreciate the way he goes about it. Fidget this, fidget that, bump this, bump that. “Get on with it”, or something similar, I cry from mid off.
Now we have new wonder kid Marnus Labuschagne menacingly waving the toe of his bat at bowlers “No run!” as he leaves a ball through to the ‘keeper. What I wouldn’t give to be standing at mid off asking for an explanation. “What are you doing mate?” would be the gist of the enquiry.
Bowlers claim to have numerous, as many as 10 or 12, different deliveries they can use when they hit the crease. The basics of all forms are mere stepping stones as batters and bowlers alike fill up their kit bags with tricks. Batsman use bats that Clive Lloyd would think look too big and heavy, but they’re light, with whip in their pick up like never before and a thick edge flies for a “maximum”. (6 isn’t actually a “maximum” but that’s another grumpy old man article ). Bump one through a gap and it races to the boundary.
Where only a few years ago the likes of Matt Hayden inspired kids to stand tall at the crease, look square at the bowler and defend when you needed to defend and when the bowler strays you fill your boots. Justin Langer showed it doesn’t matter how fast they bowl, how hard they hit you or how out of touch you were you dug in for your team and did what was best for them, not for you. You didn’t hit a ramp shot straight up in the air when you’re 3 off 8 balls.
Glenn McGrath would hit the crease with metronomic monotony aiming to hit the top of off again and again and again and any little natural variation would ensure the downfall of even the world’s best batsman. That’s right, even Lara, Tendulkar, Sangakarra, they all felt the tickle of a McGrath leg cutter moments before departing the crease. It’s almost like you don’t need 10 different deliveries to succeed, you just need to do one really well.
Warne would stalk victims like a apex predator often knowing their next move before they did. He’d set them up with subtle variations from the hand and when he was ready to strike they were as vulnerable as a plastic cup full of West End on the hill at a Test match. He used patience and skill to work a batsman over, he didn’t celebrate like he’d won X-lotto when he had someone caught on the boundary off a full bunger.
Sports evolve, they always have and always will but what will cricket of the future, at all levels, look like? Kids play more T20 cricket than long form from the youngest of ages as they don’t seem to have the capacity to concentrate through long periods in the field. That’s cricket though, so what are they actually learning to play?
Are kids learning to switch hit and play ramp shots before they have mastered and forward defence? Are they trying to bowl zooters and flippers before they can hit a line and length?
If you think cricket has changed in the last 5 years this grumpy old man has some news for you and the next time you hear “Cut it out!” from an oval nearby know that a grumpy old man somewhere just mumbled “Told you so” under his breath.