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What If ........?

sunilz

International Regular
1. MCC had allowed Bodyline bowling . How would modern batting and bowling look like ? Which players would have been most affected?

2. There was 90 over mandatory rule in 80s . Would WI be as dominant?

3. WI had won 83 WC Final. Would ODI be so big in sub-continent as it was in 90s and 00s ?

4. SA had won 99 WC SF and then Final. Would AUS be as dominant in 00s ?

5. AUS had won Kolkata Test in 2001 and then whitewashed IND 3-0. Would BG Trophy be so big today ?
 

wpdavid

Hall of Fame Member
1. MCC had allowed Bodyline bowling . How would modern batting and bowling look like ? Which players would have been most affected?

2. There was 90 over mandatory rule in 80s . Would WI be as dominant?

3. WI had won 83 WC Final. Would ODI be so big in sub-continent as it was in 90s and 00s ?

4. SA had won 99 WC SF and then Final. Would AUS be as dominant in 00s ?

5. AUS had won Kolkata Test in 2001 and then whitewashed IND 3-0. Would BG Trophy be so big today ?
1. Some batsmen would probably have been killed in the 50 years before protective clothing was fully developed.
2. I think so. Maybe Viv would have sent down a lot more overs, as well as some of the other batsmen who could turn their arm.
3. ODIs would eventually have become big in the SC. But obviously the 1983 WC win made as huge impact.
4. In tests? Yes, probably. Maybe SA would have been a more confident side in ODIs.
5. As with point 3. it would have happened when India beat the world's best side in subsequent home series.


I sometimes wonder what would have happened if WSC had never occurred.
I don't think that WI would have become quite so dominant, as it's well documented how their experience in WSC made them a fitter and more professional outfit. And from an English pov, I don't think that Brearley would have ever captained the test side. Greig would have stayed and remained focused on his game for several years. Brearley would probably have been dropped when Boycott returned. Botham, or maybe Woolmer, would have replaced Greig as captain after the 1980 and 1981 WI series.
 

Kirkut

International Regular
1. MCC had allowed Bodyline bowling . How would modern batting and bowling look like ? Which players would have been most affected?

2. There was 90 over mandatory rule in 80s . Would WI be as dominant?

3. WI had won 83 WC Final. Would ODI be so big in sub-continent as it was in 90s and 00s ?

4. SA had won 99 WC SF and then Final. Would AUS be as dominant in 00s ?

5. AUS had won Kolkata Test in 2001 and then whitewashed IND 3-0. Would BG Trophy be so big today ?
1. Lots of emphasis on the backfoot game and the art of leaving the cricket ball. Ganguly would have never played test cricket, Dravid might have averaged in low 40s. Laxman would do fine since he had a superb pull shot.

2. Yes, they could comfortably win with 2 fast bowlers alone.

3. No, cricket would have remained a niche sport in the subcontinent.

4. Not sure of ODIs but in test cricket? Definitely! They became champions after beating WI in 1995.

5. No, in fact cricket would have neared extinction in India with Tendulkar retiring in 2005 and later starting his own business. Cricket already got a bad reputation in India due to the match fixing from Azharuddin, Jadeja and Prabhakar, the Kolkata test match played a critical role not only in believing that Australia is a beatable side but also in rejuvenating the sport tainted with negative image.
 

bagapath

International Captain
1. MCC had allowed Bodyline bowling . How would modern batting and bowling look like ? Which players would have been most affected?

2. There was 90 over mandatory rule in 80s . Would WI be as dominant?

3. WI had won 83 WC Final. Would ODI be so big in sub-continent as it was in 90s and 00s ?

4. SA had won 99 WC SF and then Final. Would AUS be as dominant in 00s ?

5. AUS had won Kolkata Test in 2001 and then whitewashed IND 3-0. Would BG Trophy be so big today ?
Nice questions.

1. England and Australia and South Africa had great fast bowlers all the time. West Indies india Pakistan and New Zealand would have remained as minnows for two more decades (from their respective graduation days in reality) before catching up.
2. Yes. They would have found a way to speed up the over rate. This wasn’t THE deciding factor that made them dominant.
3. the television would have made it famous by the end of the 80s. Kapil’s catch of Viv Richards, the single greatest turning point in ODI history, made it faster.
4. For sure. Australi were a far better side than anyone else pound for pound anyways.
5. probably not. That series is what the trophy is all about.
 

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
1. MCC had allowed Bodyline bowling . How would modern batting and bowling look like ? Which players would have been most affected?

2. There was 90 over mandatory rule in 80s . Would WI be as dominant?

3. WI had won 83 WC Final. Would ODI be so big in sub-continent as it was in 90s and 00s ?

4. SA had won 99 WC SF and then Final. Would AUS be as dominant in 00s ?

5. AUS had won Kolkata Test in 2001 and then whitewashed IND 3-0. Would BG Trophy be so big today ?
1. Great fan of Jardine/Larwood/Voce that I am to leave Bodyline legal would have led to the game dying out

2. Yes - they'd have just carried on in the way that suited them - any punishment could only have been measured in financial terms, which they'd have just absorbed, or runs in which case they'd have just had to bat a little longer

3.Yes - I think just getting to the final would've been enough for India

4. Undoubtedly, though would doubtless have given them another chip on their collective shoulder.

5. I think so, though perhaps only since last winter
 

nightprowler10

Global Moderator
By saying subcontinent instead of India, is the implication that ODI cricket only became big in Pakistan because India won the WC? Not disputing it since beating India is a big reason why it became popular in general. However, I think cricket was already huge in Pakistan by then and Imran was already a superstar. He wrote his first book in '83. So I think ODI cricket would've taken off in Pakistan regardless.
 

sunilz

International Regular
By saying subcontinent instead of India, is the implication that ODI cricket only became big in Pakistan because India won the WC? Not disputing it since beating India is a big reason why it became popular in general. However, I think cricket was already huge in Pakistan by then and Imran was already a superstar. He wrote his first book in '83. So I think ODI cricket would've taken off in Pakistan regardless.
Due to India winning 83 WC , sub-continent hosted next ODI WC in 87. And hosting rights do give momentum to game and made the game extremely popular.
 

Gob

International Coach
Steven Smith had an opportunity to move to England as a teenager and pursue a career as an England cricketer. In the reality we know, he turned it down but what if, in a different reality he took the offer?
 

Line and Length

Cricketer Of The Year
1. England and Australia and South Africa had great fast bowlers all the time. West Indies india Pakistan and New Zealand would have remained as minnows for two more decades (from their respective graduation days in reality) before catching up.
One of the reasons bodyline was banned was the fact that Manny Martindale of the West Indies used it effectively in the tour of England in 1933.

"Jackie Grant (WI captain) and Learie Constantine discussed the matter and decided to use Bodyline during the second Test.
West Indies scored 375 and when England replied, Martindale and Constantine bowled Bodyline. The pair bowled up to four short deliveries each over so that the ball rose to head height; occasionally they bowled around the wicket. Many of the English batsmen were discomfited, and a short ball from Martindale struck Wally Hammond on the chin, forcing him to retire hurt. Martindale was the faster bowler but Constantine was also capable of bursts of great pace. Even so, the England captain Douglas Jardine, the man responsible for the Bodyline tactics used in Australia, batted for five hours to score his only Test century. Many critics praised Jardine's batting and bravery in the game. The ball carried through slowly on another soft pitch, which reduced the effectiveness of the Bodyline tactics, but public disapproval expressed during and after the match was instrumental in turning English attitudes against Bodyline. Not all contemporary reports disapproved of the tactics; The Times report said there had been "plenty of fun" in the play. The bowling brought Martindale success, with a return of five wickets for 73, against just one wicket for Constantine. In West Indies second innings, England also bowled Bodyline, but the match was drawn."


 

Coronis

Cricketer Of The Year
Steven Smith had an opportunity to move to England as a teenager and pursue a career as an England cricketer. In the reality we know, he turned it down but what if, in a different reality he took the offer?
Smith has played over 100 tests at 60+, Root and he have a devastating record as batting partners. Smith doesn’t get concussed and either wins the 3rd test in 2019 in the first innings or saves it with Root in the second.
 

morgieb

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Steven Smith had an opportunity to move to England as a teenager and pursue a career as an England cricketer. In the reality we know, he turned it down but what if, in a different reality he took the offer?
Australia haven’t won a Test in England since 2009. England clear cut #1 since 2014.

Harris was also inches away from playing for England. I don’t know how I could deal with an Australian side who had all those with English parentage defect to England.
 

Victor Ian

International Coach
Steven Smith had an opportunity to move to England as a teenager and pursue a career as an England cricketer. In the reality we know, he turned it down but what if, in a different reality he took the offer?
He would have been meh. They'd have played him as the same all rounder as he was when he started for Australia, but that would have been good enough for him to play 100 tests without being dropped and so he never would have focused solely on batting.
 

cnerd123

likes this
Re: Bodyline - I feel like all sport over time has moved in a direction to make it safer for the athletes to play. Had the MCC not directly outlawed Bodyline bowling, there might have been other changes made to cricket in order to make it safer for the athletes - maybe flatter pitches, quicker advancement of helmets and protective gear, or worst case scenario, a change in the ball used.

Maybe if the MCC didn't act when they did, there would have just been a lot of injuries and maybe a fatality till they eventually change the rules surrounding in, and in that case the change might have been more drastic, such as outlawing short pitched bowling entirely.
 

chris.hinton

International Captain
1. MCC had allowed Bodyline bowling . How would modern batting and bowling look like ? Which players would have been most affected?

2. There was 90 over mandatory rule in 80s . Would WI be as dominant?

3. WI had won 83 WC Final. Would ODI be so big in sub-continent as it was in 90s and 00s ?

4. SA had won 99 WC SF and then Final. Would AUS be as dominant in 00s ?

5. AUS had won Kolkata Test in 2001 and then whitewashed IND 3-0. Would BG Trophy be so big today ?

1. Bodyline would have killed cricket as we know it. Its something that was never going to stand the test of time despite what England did #

2. Yes. West Indies were really good so this wouldn't have made a difference to them at all

3. Yes. Over time India would have had good sides as too Pakistan and later Sri Lanka it might have exploded a little later but it would still have been massively popular.

4. Yes they had superb players. But people wouldn't have been so fearful of them

5. Yes. Its India vs Australia
 

Spark

Global Moderator
1. MCC had allowed Bodyline bowling . How would modern batting and bowling look like ? Which players would have been most affected?
Modern batting and bowling would probably look like **** because no reasonable talented sportsman would want to devote time to playing a joke sport like cricket and the game would have long since died at the elite level.

In short, we'd all probably be talking about baseball instead.
 

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