A blast from a much more leisurely past
For cricket fans seeking an insight into how drastically one-day internationals have changed, look no further than Sky Television pop-up channel 55.
In a stroke of marketing genius, the broadcasters have been using the channel as a vehicle to show regular highlights of the 1992 World Cup as an entree to the 2015 edition.
Watching those matches live never failed to generate excitement. Repeating the exercise almost 23 years later repeats the dose but leaves a trace of confusion as to whether the memories were embellished.
Mark Greatbatch, a national hero during the tournament, had a strike rate of just 87.92 in seven innings despite dispatching attacks as an imperious opener.
Only Martin Crowe (90.83), Ian Smith (138.63 from 44 balls) and Chris Cairns (116.66 from 18 balls) scored faster. The remaining recognised batsmen all had
CRICKET Andrew Alderson "Cruising past 50 in the 10th over is now considered mandatory; back in 1992, it was a revelation.’’
strike rates in the 50s and 60s.
Compare that to New Zealand’s recognised batsmen last summer in the five ODIs against India; just Kane Williamson (strike rate 85.54) and Martin Guptill (strike rate 76.70) scored slower than Greatbatch.
Fielding restrictions have changed, boundaries have shrunk and protective gear technology has advanced but the evidence still reflects an exponential growth in innovative shot-making.
However, Greatbatch remains an enduring memory of 1992. The way he eyeballed Curtly Ambrose in his pomp down the Eden Park wicket, having deposited him into the stands, was invigorating.
A couple of older guys on our school bus, in their initial stages experimenting with class C drugs, recounted the fulsome highs as balls were dispatched at will into the terraces. “Better than listening to Bob Marley,” they insisted.
Greatbatch was a sensation; a pioneer for the current generation, yet only one of his innings, the 68 off 60 against South Africa, finished at better than a run a ball.
Cruising past 50 in the 10th over is now considered mandatory; back then, it was a revelation. It was exotic territory reserved for the likes of Viv Richards during ODI tri-series across the Tasman.
The pop-up channel has rekindled other cheerful memories and anachronisms. When was the last time a tournament was named after Benson and Hedges or any other brand of smokes? How debonair was Richie Benaud wearing his ivory jacket and paisley tie and referring to the Waca as the “double-you-ay-see-ay ground”?
Was there a better exponent of running between the wickets than Dean Jones? Did Pakistan always field badly? Is there a case to doubleteam the pitch reports a la John Morrison and the late Peter Sharp? How fortuitous was the draw in depositing India in a windswept Carisbrook to play New Zealand?
And when did Bill Lawry make the transition from loathed to loved? His prediction that “Pakistan are not in the same class as this Australian side” proved true but not in the ’Strayian way he might’ve hoped as the green-and-golds got trounced in Perth.
Such nostalgia is already whetting the appetite for the cricketing summer.