Every now and then, there is the question of 'Has Protective Gear for Batsman' changed cricket ?
Eh ? Ofcourse !! Anyone who has doubts,
please watch Fire in Babylon -That's just the trailer, strongly recommend the movie for any cricket fan, I mean ones who watch Tests.
I must say, no matter how interesting it is to watch Viru tear the new ball open, the pinnacle of Test cricket is great fast bowling and this is being greatly reduced, thanks to the protective gear and the silly rules about number of bouncers.
I have great respect for the batsmen of previous era, who had to face the likes of Lille-Thomson, Holding, Roberts, Joel, Marshall, etc etc on pitches that were far from the sick, docile, batsman friendly pitches that are served out in all parts of the world (at least for all limited overs cricket)
Recently, I have been watching matches on youtube(even if I could watch it on my big Tele) because of the insanely funny comments. On a serious note though, most of these people have no idea what Test cricket is about and think 'Its just Natural' to be able to play short pitch bowling, i mean good fast short pitch bowling on bouncy pitches.
NO IT IS NOT ! I can assure you that not one batsman who has played some proper cricket at a decent level would say, "I have absolutely no fear for fast bowlers". Every sane batsman does ! That is what is Natural ! Its like stones(not much exaggeration, new balls are very very hard) being hurled at your face at 140 kms an hour ? You d be comfortable ? NO
Having put that into perspective, its just remarkable to see the courage batsmen of yesteryears put together, who faced that batting with little or no protective gear.
"Courage is not knowing fear, its how you face it" - exactly what they showed, GUTS and WITS (not so much by those who chose not to wear helmets after they were available, eg. Sir Vivian Richards)
But, I really wish I was born in the 70s / 80s, of all the cool retro things, retro cricket is just out of the world. I wish I saw Mohinder Amarnath hook his way to Glory against a top-class WIndies attack after rushing back from Hospital with stitches after being hit on the head. I wish I saw Lillee and Thomson thump everyone out, Tony Greig and team Grovel after his snide remark and the Little Master (Sunil Gavaskar- Hey I hate your commentary !!) sway out of line of a vicious bouncer with ease.
Helmet, arm guard, chest guard, thigh guard, etc? Modern day batsmen are like Medieval Knights with Plate Armour against amateur bowmen. Very Unfair ! Even I stand a chance (read - to survive, not bat) against an 80s Windies attack with such gear. Pitches need to be even more lively, but their quality only decline.
Finally, an extremely cliched point. If India need good fast bowlers and batsman who can play fast short bowling we need better pitches and fewer IPL numbnuts !
P.S. I am not complaining about protective gear, I d have been mauled myself a couple times without it, but for those who played without it, I have enormous respect !
Eh ? Ofcourse !! Anyone who has doubts,
please watch Fire in Babylon -That's just the trailer, strongly recommend the movie for any cricket fan, I mean ones who watch Tests.
I must say, no matter how interesting it is to watch Viru tear the new ball open, the pinnacle of Test cricket is great fast bowling and this is being greatly reduced, thanks to the protective gear and the silly rules about number of bouncers.
I have great respect for the batsmen of previous era, who had to face the likes of Lille-Thomson, Holding, Roberts, Joel, Marshall, etc etc on pitches that were far from the sick, docile, batsman friendly pitches that are served out in all parts of the world (at least for all limited overs cricket)
Recently, I have been watching matches on youtube(even if I could watch it on my big Tele) because of the insanely funny comments. On a serious note though, most of these people have no idea what Test cricket is about and think 'Its just Natural' to be able to play short pitch bowling, i mean good fast short pitch bowling on bouncy pitches.
NO IT IS NOT ! I can assure you that not one batsman who has played some proper cricket at a decent level would say, "I have absolutely no fear for fast bowlers". Every sane batsman does ! That is what is Natural ! Its like stones(not much exaggeration, new balls are very very hard) being hurled at your face at 140 kms an hour ? You d be comfortable ? NO
Having put that into perspective, its just remarkable to see the courage batsmen of yesteryears put together, who faced that batting with little or no protective gear.
"Courage is not knowing fear, its how you face it" - exactly what they showed, GUTS and WITS (not so much by those who chose not to wear helmets after they were available, eg. Sir Vivian Richards)
But, I really wish I was born in the 70s / 80s, of all the cool retro things, retro cricket is just out of the world. I wish I saw Mohinder Amarnath hook his way to Glory against a top-class WIndies attack after rushing back from Hospital with stitches after being hit on the head. I wish I saw Lillee and Thomson thump everyone out, Tony Greig and team Grovel after his snide remark and the Little Master (Sunil Gavaskar- Hey I hate your commentary !!) sway out of line of a vicious bouncer with ease.
Helmet, arm guard, chest guard, thigh guard, etc? Modern day batsmen are like Medieval Knights with Plate Armour against amateur bowmen. Very Unfair ! Even I stand a chance (read - to survive, not bat) against an 80s Windies attack with such gear. Pitches need to be even more lively, but their quality only decline.
Finally, an extremely cliched point. If India need good fast bowlers and batsman who can play fast short bowling we need better pitches and fewer IPL numbnuts !
P.S. I am not complaining about protective gear, I d have been mauled myself a couple times without it, but for those who played without it, I have enormous respect !
No comments:
Post a Comment