Has batting in tests become too aggressive.

[ganeshran]

Has test batting become more about hitting out and losing wickets in a heap rather than grinding it out and patiently building an innings?

 

[Spark]

Yes. Pitches + standard of bowling attacks from 2006-2009 the main cause IMO.

 

[ganeshran]

I agree. One more factor could be the influence of ODI and T20 batting.

 

[Athlai]

70-75: RPO 2.59

75-80: RPO 2.77

80-85: RPO 2.89

85-90: RPO 2.83

90-95: RPO 2.84

95-00: RPO 2.87

00-05: RPO 3.10

05-10: RPO 3.33

10-present RPO 3.25

So basically the average SR has went from 43 in the 70s to the 54 of today. Significant but not wholly ridiculous either IMO.

 

[ganeshran]

Thanks Athlai, that pretty much sums it. Aggressive batting is good to watch but IMO the beauty of building a test innings patiently is lost in the slogathon

 

[Athlai]

Yeah you bastards should appreciate the way Piranha bats more!

 

[Viscount Tom]

Australia team at the start of the 2000s could pound opposition at a fierce rate, when England needed to challenge them in '05 they felt the need to do this as well; other teams started to follow on from this example.

Add in T20 and well technique's become more aggressive and flawed.

 

[Uppercut]

Dunno, batsmen are scoring more runs than they used to. Seems counter-intuitive to suggest that the old way was better when it yielded so many fewer runs.

 

[sledger]

Yeah, if people/businesses/teams/governments/whatever spot other similar bodies getting success out of a particular way of doing something, they'll inevitably copy it. Following suit is how you stay competitive in pretty much anything you do, you have to adapt to your environment (whatever it may be), or you will be left behind.

 

[Lostman]

Yeah you bastards should appreciate the way Piranha bats more!

Yuck...

 

[Burgey]

It just seems a lot of players (well ours) don't change gears as much to reflect conditions. They just launch irrespective.

 

[sledger]

Aw No - YouTube

 

[honestbharani]

I think more than all this, the modern captaincy has become very defensive, across all the teams. Dhoni keeping 3 men out for Darren Sammy walking in with his team less than a 100 for 6 says it all, IMO.

 

[Xuhaib]

70-75: RPO 2.59

75-80: RPO 2.77

80-85: RPO 2.89

85-90: RPO 2.83

90-95: RPO 2.84

95-00: RPO 2.87

00-05: RPO 3.10

05-10: RPO 3.33

10-present RPO 3.25

So basically the average SR has went from 43 in the 70s to the 54 of today. Significant but not wholly ridiculous either IMO.

all lies.

 

[Uppercut]

Australia team at the start of the 2000s could pound opposition at a fierce rate, when England needed to challenge them in '05 they felt the need to do this as well; other teams started to follow on from this example.

There was always a feeling with that Australian team that the way to beat them was by taking them on at their own game, by playing ultra-aggressive back at them. But the current England attack absolutely thrives on that mentality. When batsmen try to hit them off their line and length, full and swinging away outside off stump, they invariably nick out. The most effective batsmen have been guys like Dravid and Hussey that are excellent at letting the ball go outside off stump. Impulsive drivers like Ponting and Sehwag have embarrassed themselves.

It's interesting- one dominant team establishes a strategy, and the next dominant team is the one that finds a way of exploiting that strategy. If a team had bowled the lines that England often do back in the 80s, opposing batsmen might have just watched ball after ball float by outside off stump. But most of them today are too ingrained with the mentality that aggressive=good to do that.

 

[Uppercut]

I think more than all this, the modern captaincy has become very defensive, across all the teams. Dhoni keeping 3 men out for Darren Sammy walking in with his team less than a 100 for 6 says it all, IMO.

England exploit this remarkably well too. They run harder between the wickets than any side I've ever seen, they take on 3s that you'd think were suicidal and get there with yards to spare. I think they've realised just how hard it is to effect a run-out from the boundary and take calculated risks with that in mind.

 

[sledger]

It's interesting- one dominant team establishes a strategy, and the next dominant team is the one that finds a way of exploiting that strategy.

Surely that's the case in any sport played at any level at any time though, in fact it probably can be applied in a lot of contexts, not just those of a sporting variety.

 

[morgieb]

If the run-rate was slower, then there'd be a **** load of draws. So, in this case aggression is a good thing.

 

[Athlai]

I think more than all this, the modern captaincy has become very defensive, across all the teams. Dhoni keeping 3 men out for Darren Sammy walking in with his team less than a 100 for 6 says it all, IMO.

Ross Taylor has shown glimpses of being a more aggressive captain. Hopefully a few guys emulate those tendencies.

 

[Furball]

70-75: RPO 2.59

75-80: RPO 2.77

80-85: RPO 2.89

85-90: RPO 2.83

90-95: RPO 2.84

95-00: RPO 2.87

00-05: RPO 3.10

05-10: RPO 3.33

10-present RPO 3.25

So basically the average SR has went from 43 in the 70s to the 54 of today. Significant but not wholly ridiculous either IMO.

To what extent is the increased RR in the last 10 years down to teams thrashing Bangladesh and Zimbabwe before they got booted?