One Day cricket reaches the new millennium

Perhaps it is apparent that I don’t get too excited about One Day cricket and consequently, I don’t spend much time writing about it. It’s not that I don’t like it. It’s just that I find it hard to be passionate about it. For me, comparing ODI cricket to Test cricket is like comparing McDonalds to Kingsleys Steak House. However, 872 in a single day is worth discussing.

But before I start on that, while I’ve still got your attention, let it be known that there has been Test cricket galore in recent times. Earlier today, New Zealand won a tightly contested match by just 27 runs. The match fluctuated throughout and two under-rated all-rounders deserve special mention. Scott Styris scored 103 not out and had bowling figures of 2 for 2 on day one. And Chris Gayle took 4-71 in the NZ second dig and then powered to 82 to give the West Indies a real chance. But the day belonged to Shane Bond who ripped through the West Indies middle order, including Lara for a golden duck, and finished with 5-69. For details: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/shared/fds/hi/statistics/cricket/scorecards/2006/3/12328/html/scorecard.stm

And India had just defeated England by nine wickets in the 2nd Test to take a one nil lead in the three Test series in India. For details http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/indveng/engine/match/238186.html?view=frameset;wrappertype=frameset

Back to the “greatest game of all”. I’m not too sure last yesterday’s run-fest was the greatest game of all – I didn’t see a ball. I did see all of the previous “greatest game of all” – the semi final in the 1999 World Cup, between the same two teams. I still think that takes some topping for occasion, drama, excitement, satire and irony. Not to mention the theatre of Allan Donald running in circles like a headless chook, while Damien Fleming under-armed the ball to the other end.

However, it is pretty amazing that ODI cricket has been played in earnest for almost 30 years now and the magic 400 mark has not once been passed. And in one match, it was not only passed but passed by a mile, and not once but twice. Apparently the pitch was perfect, the ground small and the outfield like glass, but surely this is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that such conditions will prevail. And while the Australian attack in particular may be weaker than we have seen in recent years, surely the two bowling attacks were not that sub-standard?

How did they do it? The South Africans deserve particular praise. To overhaul such a target took incredible strength. And we all thought they were chokers.

Is breaking through the magic 400 mark the dawn of a new era or was it simple matter of the planets aligning?

When WSC cricket first brought hard core 50 over ODI cricket to us, 200 runs was par. Anything above that was a bonus. The concept of a specialised ODI team was not heard of. The cricket team was the cricket team and the colour clothes they donned simply depended on the length of the game at hand. The theory was to grind out the first 15 overs, lose no wickets and make it to 50 runs. And then see what might happen.

One Day cricket has a great deal to thank Sri Lanka for. In the early to mid nineties, leading up to the 1996-96 World Cup, Sri Lanka pioneered the idea of “going over the top” in the first 15 overs while the field was up. Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana advanced ODI cricket a quantum leap back then. That policy has been adopted by all teams now and is still going strong, as is Jayasuriya. In “normal” conditions, a score of around 250 would generally be regarded as par now days.

A new game has arrived and it is called 20/20. There is much excitement about it, just as there was when one day cricket was new. There has been a lot of talk about how tired 50 over cricket has become, and that is true to a certain extent. There has been plenty of talk that 20/20 cricket should replace a good part of the 50 program.

My opinion is that 20/20 played a big part in yesterdays 872 run match. I think that the achievements of 20/20 cricket have encouraged players and coaches to push the boundaries. Sure, there have been some colossal failures when it all goes horribly wrong BUT there have been plenty of occasions when you are left wondering why some of the approaches could not be taken into 50 over cricket. When Australia played South Africa in a 20/20 last summer, Australia made 3/209. Why not imagine that was the first 20 overs of a 50 over match?

In Ponting, Gilchrist, Symonds and Hussey, Australia has four batsmen who are in the top deck and who can score at well over 100 runs per 100 balls for extended periods. Accordingly they made some huge scorea this summer including: 5/322, 7/334, 5/318, 5/368. One thing to notice is that in three of those innings there were still five wickets to spare. I remember in the first and last of those matches, Symonds going ballistic for the last 5-6 overs and sending the run rate through the roof. Hussey and Clarke did similarly in other matches.

I also remember thinking that it seemed too easy at the end, why did they not start the onslaught 10 or 15 overs earlier? There were probably more runs in the pitch. And the truth is that of those first two scores I listed, New Zealand did overhaul the second one, and should have overhauled the first as well (they lost by one run). The main criticism of one day cricket has been the grind between overs 15 (and now 20 with the stupidly named “power play”) and 40. The last 10 overs, provided that wickets are in hand, can be regarded as “happy hour”. And that is why we have 25 overs of six singles per over – nobody likes to miss out on happy hour. Sorry for those non-drinking readers – I don’t mean to offend those non-drinking cultures that are so important to the cricket community.

In yesterday’s match, after Australia got off to a flier and then Ponting got settled and away, the pace simply did not back off. Then of course, from necessity, South Africa had to aim for the dizzy heights of over 8.5 an over. When Smith was dismissed in the 20th over, the score was already 190!! When Gibbs was out for 175 there were still over 18 overs remaining. That puts the Holy Grail of an individual double century into perspective.

Time will tell if One Day cricket has made taken one giant step forward. I hope it has. We now turn our attention to the Test series, and for all Warne’s boorish comments, Australia must be truly worried.