Dale Steyn
World cricket has seen such a shift in the past decade that the five day format has ceased to be what it once was. In fact, one wonders if the word ‘Test’ can be used to describe the game in the real sense of the word.
One look at the Test batting and bowling averages reveals a lot. Surely one doesn’t need a statistician for this; Test batting averages have risen and so have bowling averages. So, does this mean that batting skills have improved and bowling standards deteriorated?
Surely, there is more than meets the eye, or perhaps, one already knows the fact but just does not happen to discuss it.
The simple fact is that Test pitches, on average, are more sedate than they were a decade ago and this has had a profound impact on the way Test cricket is played today.
Even a decade ago, the likes of Donald, Ambrose and Younis could steam in and hope to instill some fear into the minds of opposition batsman. Half the battle was already won. In the mind.
But today, Tait, Steyn and rest cannot hope to rattle the batsmen in the same manner as before and this doesn’t really have to do with their skill as much as it has to do with the type of pitches curators dish out today.
One fondly recalls Shoaib Akhtar firing on all cylinders in the ODI World Cup in 1999. It was cricket at its best. Each ball in excess of a 150 kmph and swinging magically away from or in towards the bat.
This is the cricket one would pay to watch. Not so much the bang-bang affair in T20 cricket but genuinely fast bowling unleashed upon the batsman.
The best bowler in the world, Dale Steyn of South Africa, sits atop the Test bowling rankings and has dominated this list like no one’s business. So, what is Steyn’s Test bowling average? 23.15. Now that’s not a number anyone would ever scoff at.
The best bowler of every generation has managed to keep his bowling average close to 21, but the times have changed and how. And if one looks away from Steyn, the bowling averages swell in a manner that makes this generation look (falsely) like one of sissies.
James Anderson at 30.57, Stuart Broad at 32.0, Morne Morkel at 29.46 and Zaheer Khan with 31.78 are the second, fourth, fifth and sixth ranked bowlers in the world. Need one say more?
With this rise in bowling averages, there has been a rise in Test batting averages. Suddenly, the batting averages of Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Sunil Gavaskar don’t look that special after all. A Test average of 50 is more common today.
This is not to say that Test cricket in general and its traditions in particular do not have any takers. Test cricket has an ample following in the subcontinent. And it still is very much a craze in South Africa, Australia and England.
And, by the same token, wouldn’t there be enough cricket watchers who would pay to watch Pat Cummins orMarchant de Lange charging in with full incentive to hurl the cherry at 155 kmph, and not merely the 145 kmph he attempts but can surely better. My word, yes! Need one say more?
