The MCC has come with some more idiotic reforms - this time they want to tinker with Test Cricket, after making a mess of ODI and T20.
Pray, what are the reforms?
To ensure 90 overs are bowled within a day, they want to run a clock with time limits for Batsmen to get in or out, for field to change over after each over etc etc. And if the time limits are not met, the team guilty of offence will get a warning first, followed by a 5 run penalty.
This is downright stupid. In the first place, no team bowls 90 overs in 6 hours these days, unless spinners bowl 60-70 overs, and one of those spinners is Ravindra Jadeja, who gets through his overs in 90 seconds. True, an extension of 30 minutes is given, which is availed 95% of the time, and which clearly indicates that bowling 90 overs a day is not possible in standard conditions.
What is sacrosanct about 90 overs? Most teams easily bowl 13 overs an hour, even with fast bowlers operating. Why doesn't MCC take a call to reduce the overs per day to a minimum of 80 overs per day? Or Alternatively extend the hours to 7. This is easily possible with most of the grounds having good quality flood lights. The lunch hour can be reduced to 20 minutes. This means we have this 20 minutes, the extra half hour plus another 10 minutes. This is easily achievable.
The other proposed change is to give a free hit if a no ball is bowled. I was always against the free hit concept. The bowler has already been penalized with a run and any wicket taken with the no ball is not counted (except run out). And he had to re bowl the ball. What is the big charm in allowing the already pampered batsmen to have a free hit? In any case, only about 7-8 no balls are bowled per day in Test Cricket. How this rule of introducing the free hit is going to improve Test Cricket is beyond me.
The other reform to opt for only one Ball manufacturer is welcome. I just hope they do not choose the useless kookaburra balls. It should be fine as long as the ball is made by Duke or SG. Better still, why dont MCC decide what the nature of the ball should be, apart from dimensions they can also decide on the seam, shine etc, and give it to all the ball manufacturers. This way there will be healthy competition.
The other reform to opt for only one Ball manufacturer is welcome. I just hope they do not choose the useless kookaburra balls. It should be fine as long as the ball is made by Duke or SG. Better still, why dont MCC decide what the nature of the ball should be, apart from dimensions they can also decide on the seam, shine etc, and give it to all the ball manufacturers. This way there will be healthy competition.
There are so many other areas that need improvement, and MCC has an ostrich like attitude towards them. I have written about this before in this blog
