Things I miss about cricket in the 80s/90s

[Kirkut]

I think the bit about the bigger bats, reverse swing as well as spin in ODIs etc. are all good points. At the same time, I also think we tend to romanticize the stuff we watched as kids when it comes to sports. I enjoy the fact that you can bowl proper bouncers in ODIs now, instead of the no-ball when it bounces over the shoulder crap in the 90s. The two catchers compulsory and the whole 15-40 overs of ODIs when so very little ever happened are stuff I am happy we dont have to the same extent now.

I still remember that period in the early 90s when Courier, Sampras, Edberg, Becker all seemed to take turns to being #1 and awaiting with bated breath for the Friday(??) newspaper which was the only time I could see the ATP Top 10 for that week.

Also, we take for granted how exceptionally talented batsmen today are against pace, 140 km/hr is not really fast in 2020s.
On the other hand, I've watched batsmen from England and South Africa in the 90s/00s hopping around or getting beaten when the speed gun is just shy of the 140 mark.

Still, I am more emotionally attached to cricket from the past, the current bunch are very bold and talented, nobody from 'Fab 5' had the guts to do what Pant did in Australia, but those were the days...

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Everything changed when our team started to suck.

Rally!

 

[Slifer]

I miss WI playing full 5 test series vs Australia and England and occasionally India. And even in the WI against teams like nz and Pakistan, stadiums were full with raucous crowds.

 

[SteveNZ]

From the bowling standpoints, seeing yorkers employed with much more frequency than today.

This gets a big like from me. Bowlers don't like yorkers now, because it's not a wicket-taking delivery like a length ball could be...and franchise teams like 3-fors, not 0-27s off 4.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

The novelty of ultra aggressive batting. When Greatbatch began the pinch hitting trend, it truly felt like something special.

FIFY

 

[SteveNZ]

This is low-hanging fruit, but I also miss that playing for your country was the pinnacle and barring injury, you knew you'd get to see your best players in every series, and every match.

I believe the thing we'll look back on in 20-30 years time in professional sport and lament is the over-scheduling of fixtures, not only in cricket but in high impact sports like rugby, league etc. The game is driven by fish heads to the cost of the fabric of it.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Really miss sneaking away from school to watch cricket

Become a teacher and you'll be able to do it again!

 

[Fuller Pilch]

I miss England playing dull and ineffective cricket. That is the way things should be.

 

[Red]

Oddly enough, playing in whites in ODI cricket.

This with tests too. Just whites/creams without logos and numbers and crap all over them

 

[Burgey]

The old triangular ODI series to finish off the summer after the test matches was ****ing gold for a solid cricket fan.

 

[jcas0167]

Ritchie Benaud's live to-camera monologue at the end of the day (plus, that era of commentators, Bill Lawry, Tony Grieg, Ian Chappell, Max Walker, Rod Marsh, Fred Truman).

The old bats certainly made a difference. There was a certain mystique about Viv Richards, Botham, or here in NZ Lance Cairns, as they could regularly hit sixes. I read that Martin Crowe only hit one six in Australia and he said he wasn't trying to either with the bats they had and he wasn't a power player like the Botham or Richards. Today he would have to bulk up and obviously with the bigger bats he would be. It just struck me recently that even someone like Kane Williamson looks like he spends a lot of time in the gym to develop his power game.

 

[Line and Length]

Definitely the Australia v West Indies clashes when both at their peak. Particularly Lillee v Richards.

On a personal note, playing though well past my prime. If our Association had T20 back then I might have extended my playing career well into my 50s.

 

[subshakerz]

I miss WI playing full 5 test series vs Australia and England and occasionally India. And even in the WI against teams like nz and Pakistan, stadiums were full with raucous crowds.

Both of these are great points.

WI actually being a decent test team. How we miss them.

And supporters actually filling test stadiums. We don't see that today outside of England and Australia.

 

[Nas207]

Also, we take for granted how exceptionally talented batsmen today are against pace, 140 km/hr is not really fast in 2020s.
On the other hand, I've watched batsmen from England and South Africa in the 90s/00s hopping around or getting beaten when the speed gun is just shy of the 140 mark.

Still, I am more emotionally attached to cricket from the past, the current bunch are very bold and talented, nobody from 'Fab 5' had the guts to do what Pant did in Australia, but those were the days...

Not sure bowlers were much slower in the 80s or 90s. Just of the top of my head Devon Malcolm, Alan Donald, Mcdermott, Ambrose were all regularly over 90 mph. In the 80s batsman hadn't properly switched to full head protection, which adds a significant element of risk to any hook shot.

The old bats certainly made a difference. There was a certain mystique about Viv Richards, Botham, or here in NZ Lance Cairns, as they could regularly hit sixes. I read that Martin Crowe only hit one six in Australia and he said he wasn't trying to either with the bats they had and he wasn't a power player like the Botham or Richards. Today he would have to bulk up and obviously with the bigger bats he would be. It just struck me recently that even someone like Kane Williamson looks like he spends a lot of time in the gym to develop his power game.

I think I read that the actual sweet spot of the bat, ie: how far the ball can go hasn't changed much, but the overall surface area has totally changed with the modern bat. It really is so striking when you watch old stuff. Even Richards in his prime struggles to clear the infield on a mi****. You really needed supreme confidence/bravado to attempt that kind of batting then. Again though, I don't think batsmen were necessarily more defensive, at least in tests. Its fascinating to watch the evolution take place over the 80s and 90s up into the 2000s. I think the Indians and then the Australians were the first players to start using more modern bats.

 

[WICFan]

It obviously makes sense to wear one but batters wearing helmets without the grill.

 

[subshakerz]

One thing I miss in the mid 90s was the prevalence of quality pacers in Aus, Pak, WI and SA. We never had that abundance before and after. Four quality pace partnerships.

 

[anil1405]

 

[anil1405]

Want a glimpse of the 90s again? Watch women's ODI cricket. Majority of the scores are still in the mid 250 range. 5-10 years down the line that would change too.

 

[Ashes81]

The fact that the standard of county cricket in England has fallen to an all time low as the England players and top international players don't play county cricket any longer.

 

[shortpitched713]

View attachment 34309

Not worried about anything, other than how dire some of the pizza options are, and how many people are voting for them. Ham and pineapple??! And do I even want to know what a "Dirty Rotten" is?