Starfighter
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
It's a pretty observable fact some eras, especially the 20s, 40s and 00s saw higher batting averages than others. The general factors you'll hear about this are that there were no great bowlers (especially fast bowlers) or that pitches were flatter. I'd like to see some discussion over the causes of such eras.
For example, the one about great bowlers. It is conceivable that there were fewer great bowlers in a given era, and this made life easy for the batsmen. But could it possibly be the other way round? Perhaps said era has many great batsmen who made life difficult for the bowlers, who then appear worse in comparison. Maybe there is just some random variation, and at some times you'll get more great bowlers of a given style and in others batsmen.
Perhaps there is a third factor influencing both - I think very few would disagree with the assertion that the current era has seen fewer truly fast pitches, especially in WI and Aus. But on the other hand one could argue that more recent pitches in India have been more bowler friendly than in, say, the early eighties.
So what do you think is the biggest influence?
For example, the one about great bowlers. It is conceivable that there were fewer great bowlers in a given era, and this made life easy for the batsmen. But could it possibly be the other way round? Perhaps said era has many great batsmen who made life difficult for the bowlers, who then appear worse in comparison. Maybe there is just some random variation, and at some times you'll get more great bowlers of a given style and in others batsmen.
Perhaps there is a third factor influencing both - I think very few would disagree with the assertion that the current era has seen fewer truly fast pitches, especially in WI and Aus. But on the other hand one could argue that more recent pitches in India have been more bowler friendly than in, say, the early eighties.
So what do you think is the biggest influence?