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Originally Posted by jrwb  Bowlers improving? I wonder if you've noticed the final stages of a limited overs match where the fast bowlers deliver a barrage of full tosses which are met by almighty wild swings at them from the batsmen - I suppose the bowlers are trying to get some yorkers in, and fail miserably most of the time. |
Well, I've heard it said that low full-tosses are quite an effective weapon (if well-directed) for late in the innings, so I think that some of them are bound to be deliberate. And yes, I do believe that the stock of quicks rising through the ranks is better than what it was five years ago. Batsmen going after the bowlers will force them to bowl more accurately in all forms of the game- and that, to me, means putting the ball where the bowler wants it, even if it's not on a classical line and length.
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As a matter of fact, I believe that the introduction of limited overs cricket as a regular international fixture has caused batsmen to treat the shorter game as the one to bat aggressively in, and the test match to take absolutely no chances in boring us to death, and it seems to me that batsmen nowadays score runs much slower in tests than some years ago - I haven't checked this as a stastistical fact - I should...
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I'd be highly surprised if this were so. Strike rates in Tests are on the up, and so are economy rates- ERs of over 3 are the norm now, whereas is used to be quite expensive, even as little as ten years ago. I guess Tests seem slower because the over rates are worse? Now you have to go into overtime to get in 90, while the fielding teams have drinks every time a wicket falls and the captains spend an age setting the field.