Toss out free hit, remove leg byes

As they say, change is the only constant. So, we all have to keep pace with the changing world around us; my sport though lags behind a little in this matter.

Granted, we have three formats today and a few tweaks have been made in these, but there are still some elements in the game that infuriate me and need a change in keeping with the evolving landscape.

Since helmets came into the game, bowlers have lost massive ground in the contest between bat and ball; fear of getting hit was one big challenge batters had to overcome. All other things came later.

Only the very brave could stand up to the great West Indian attack when there were no helmets, and yes, the tails did not wag too much then as they do now.Helmets have changed the balance between bat and ball like nothing else, more than even flat pitches and bigger bats.

Hence, for the game to stay absorbing and meaningful, especially to the discerning viewer, one must keep ensuring that there is proper balance between bat and ball and it all makes sense in the end. For example, we see this scenario many times—a bowler has bowled a great delivery and the batter is deceived, can’t put bat to ball. But the ball brushes his pads and goes to the fine leg boundary.

Umpire signals four, in favour of the batting team! Batter rewarded, bowler penalised. How does that make sense from any angle? Batters today are ‘360-degree’ players because they have become more imaginative, but before that it’s because of, yes, you guessed it, helmets! Would a batter go down on one knee against a big fast bowler, his face perfectly in line with a ball coming at 90 mph, to play a Dilscoop if he wasn’t wearing a helmet? When we gave batters helmets, we should have felt obligated to give something significant back to the bowlers too. It pains me, especially in T20 cricket, to see the bowler being penalised 6 runs when he has bowled a superb short ball, bouncing at a legitimate height which a No.11 batter has slogged with eyes closed. The ball flies off the edge over the keeper, crashing into the sight-screen. Teams have won close matches like this when in actual event it’s the bowler who’s won the contest. There is just no cricketing logic to this, except that it’s been the thing over the years.