(This post was last modified: 06-01-2022, 09:33 AM by Keshan.)
(05-27-2022, 08:56 PM)stillwill Wrote:(05-26-2022, 07:39 AM)Keshan Wrote: How will fast bowlers not bowling much will prevent them from getting injuries? Isn't that what's happening now? They breakdown immediately in international cricket, when piled on with the heavy workload.
According to Dr. Pete Allen who spoke to Wisden recently, research suggests that a fast bowler needs to bowl a minimum of 1200 overs for their body to get adjusted for fast bowling. Its one of the most intense things in sport and given its repetitive nature its very unique as well. This is probably what cricketers are referring to by saying bowling fitness as well. Gymming isn't the same thing.
And not bowling them and hiding them in domestic games isn't gonna help anyone.
First you need to fix the pitches, make them more balanced. Not too challenging so that batters can also thrive. Otherwise batting also will never improve.
Also pitches that aid fast bowlers help spinners too. That's correct. Not sure what you mean by it makes them work harder and smarter in an earlier post. But in reality what happens is that bounce helps spinners. If it seams - as Warne used to say - it spins too. So turn and bounce. That's why its helpful!
You say highly challenging conditions have helped English batters to be more disciplined. Well have you been watching international cricket in the last 12-18 months? It doesn't work that way.
Any fast bowler playing international cricket would have bowled that much overs by now. That's like 120, 50 over matches and most of these guys bowl in nets than bowl in matches. Even if a fast bowler starts bowling pace at 15, he would have reached 1200 overs by the time he is 20 easily. What im saying is that no point in bowling on flat decks, on hot humid conditions, that too with questionable diet. Fast bowlers have X number of overs in their career. You can't just make them bowl a lot of overs. Even spinners shoulders get screwed. When you train hard, especially in a sport with explosive action and landing it screws your body. Most of the fast bowlers are in some sort of discomfort, little niggle here, little niggle there. They only need to train enough, and the "enough" is less than you think.
See when the pitch is flat, it is way easier to smash around, you can play unorthodox shots and get away with it. This won't work when the condition is tough. If you are used to batting in difficult conditions, you can bat in any condition. SL talent pool is very small and domestic scene is poor, some Canadian kid scored Five 50s in 3 FC innings last season playing in Canada. He actually only scored 2 50s in 2 full seasons of cricket in Canada. I've bowled to him, he is alright, but Five 50s in 3 FC matches in SL ? Anyway you can't have guys come and start learning vs international team, might as well make the pitches difficult and make them learn in the domestic pitches so they are ready when they get called up.
England has done very well over the last 5-6 years or so. They are in some atrocious test ball cricket but reason for that is not pacer friendly pitch. Remember when India fast bowling was so trash ? India started making pacer friendly pitches. At one point even Harbhajan complained about making 120km/h trundlers looking like Malcolm Marshal.
In a domestic T20 tournament, batsmen have to go from the start anyway, whether it is flat or pacer friendly. Let them learn on difficult pitch so when they are ready, they are actually ready for the international stage.
lol first time I heard someone say 'test ball cricket' lool
Obviously, you have not followed even a bit of county cricket or test cricket in general for that matter.
In England - pitches, combined with the sidelined county schedule is a big reason. English test batting is one of the most unpredictable things in recent years. Also these things don't happen overnight. Since Cook retired, look for how long they've been looking for an opening batting pair? County cricketers themselves were saying - nobody wants to open anymore in English cricket. Look at how many middle to lower order gun players they have in international cricket alone. Check how many collapses they've had. 40 year old medium pacers are taking wickets in County Cricket lol thanks to the conditions. Making pitches challenging and heavily bowler friendly doesn't develop better batters. How can you say pitches are not part of the problem, when county crickters themselves have gone on record and said that?
To improve t20 batting the solution is not making challenging pitches. What kind of a theory is that? How would our batters even learn to go big ???
On fast bowlers - that's what research says for young and upcoming fast bowlers. To have a lengthy career you need to be able to bowl and be proper match fit. Hiding them and protecting them is not going get you anywhere. Check with any good fast bowler who is coming back from a long break, what do they do to get ready? What do they do to get ready for a new season?
Obviously you need to give them proper breaks and shouldn't bowl them to the ground. But if the local conditions you are getting is what they are - if you don't bowl in them, how will you improve? Authorities of course need to move away from rank turners and improve pitches. But yes, you shouldn't bowl them to the ground but doesn't mean hiding them is also the solution if you wanna succeed in all conditions and stay injury free.
India made pitches more balanced- aiding fast bowlers too. Yadav and Varun Aaron came into the picture around 2010 I think or even before that. Then overtime, with the right domestic conditions they managed to develop this great attack. Its not a case of pitches being too pacer friendly and any runs that batters get are pure luck. But its more balanced now. Maybe as a result, that's why current crop of Indian batters are not the greatest against spin compared to back then.
PS - Pacer friendly pitches doesn't mean it should be a minefield for batsmen. Balanced pitches that are slightly tilted towards bowlers provide the best test cricket
I didn't see the light until I was already a man and by then it was nothing to me but blinding.