Hiya - it's interesting because when people ask me about cricket I say the following.
I love test cricket.
Don't mind ODI's.
And am not remotely interested in T20 cricket.
I wonder how common this attitude is, there must be plenty of others out there.
Maybe the reason for this is that within cricket there are four types of batsman who all have their place - and the move towards 'rush cricket' is edging at least two out. I also think the circus called 'Bazball' has a lot to answer for.
Being a teenager of the 1990s I'm going to show a certain amount of bias here as it was my cricketing peak, but let's look at those four types of batsman that you see - I appreciate some of you may think there are five but...
My four are as follows.
The GRIT batsman is the type whose principal aim is to occupy the crease for as long as possible. He's strong in defence, has high levels of concentration and will wear a few to stay in. This is the guy who will contribute to a 2-3 runs an over session, looking to wear the bowlers down. And cash in later.
Think Atherton, Kirsten, Cook etc.
The BALANCED batsman is capable of turning GRIT if the match situation demands it but also capable of going ROLLS ROYCE and looking to score when then tide turns and your team is in the ascendancy. On the whole they combine defence with attack pretty much equally.
Think Thorpe, S Waugh, Kallis etc.
The ROLLS ROYCE batsman is looking to score and capable of becoming a DESTROYER in certain circumstances. Yes they have half an eye on defence and can do so, but the intent is to score and look for opportunities. In my view these are the best and most interesting batsmen to watch.
Think Root, Martin Crowe, Mark Waugh etc.
And THE DESTROYER is looking to survive some sort of early barrage, then get busy destroying. These are the 7 6's in one innings kind of batsmen who are mad to watch in the moment. These are also the guys who take bowlers out of their natural mojo and get them bowling bad balls.
Think AB De Villiers, Stokes, Pietersen, Gilchrist etc.
I nearly posted a thread the other day asking...should test cricket be reduced to four days? I've never had an issue with the draw and maybe reducing test cricket to four days would produce more tense 'draw finishes' as well as increasing the value of GRIT and BALANCED batsmen.
Personally I love a good Rolls Royce, give me Martin Crowe dismantiling England at Lords in 1994 and I'll get my popcorn. I'm English BTW.
I just wonder if the nature of cricket is putting certain types of batsmen out of existence - thoughts appreciated...
I love test cricket.
Don't mind ODI's.
And am not remotely interested in T20 cricket.
I wonder how common this attitude is, there must be plenty of others out there.
Maybe the reason for this is that within cricket there are four types of batsman who all have their place - and the move towards 'rush cricket' is edging at least two out. I also think the circus called 'Bazball' has a lot to answer for.
Being a teenager of the 1990s I'm going to show a certain amount of bias here as it was my cricketing peak, but let's look at those four types of batsman that you see - I appreciate some of you may think there are five but...
My four are as follows.
The GRIT batsman is the type whose principal aim is to occupy the crease for as long as possible. He's strong in defence, has high levels of concentration and will wear a few to stay in. This is the guy who will contribute to a 2-3 runs an over session, looking to wear the bowlers down. And cash in later.
Think Atherton, Kirsten, Cook etc.
The BALANCED batsman is capable of turning GRIT if the match situation demands it but also capable of going ROLLS ROYCE and looking to score when then tide turns and your team is in the ascendancy. On the whole they combine defence with attack pretty much equally.
Think Thorpe, S Waugh, Kallis etc.
The ROLLS ROYCE batsman is looking to score and capable of becoming a DESTROYER in certain circumstances. Yes they have half an eye on defence and can do so, but the intent is to score and look for opportunities. In my view these are the best and most interesting batsmen to watch.
Think Root, Martin Crowe, Mark Waugh etc.
And THE DESTROYER is looking to survive some sort of early barrage, then get busy destroying. These are the 7 6's in one innings kind of batsmen who are mad to watch in the moment. These are also the guys who take bowlers out of their natural mojo and get them bowling bad balls.
Think AB De Villiers, Stokes, Pietersen, Gilchrist etc.
I nearly posted a thread the other day asking...should test cricket be reduced to four days? I've never had an issue with the draw and maybe reducing test cricket to four days would produce more tense 'draw finishes' as well as increasing the value of GRIT and BALANCED batsmen.
Personally I love a good Rolls Royce, give me Martin Crowe dismantiling England at Lords in 1994 and I'll get my popcorn. I'm English BTW.
I just wonder if the nature of cricket is putting certain types of batsmen out of existence - thoughts appreciated...
