A new white ball at each end — trick or treat?

How well thought out was the move to start every One-Day International innings with two new balls, one from each end?  

The idea was to combat the white ball’s loss of colour. What was sought to be done previously with a mandatory change of ball after 34 overs was now being tried with the use of two.

Return to the ’90s

Earlier, a ball of similar wear and tear would be used from the 35th over. Now each of the two balls would still be hard, with minimal discolouration and only 25-overs old at the end of the innings. This was also a return to the early ’90s, when two new balls were used before the practice was discontinued.

ICC chief executive Dave Richardson termed the changes, including the reduction in the number of fielders in the outfield, as something that would make “the game more attacking and more exciting.”

There was a chance that in good batting conditions, the harder ball would be easier to score off.

There are, however, those who feel that the bowlers could profit too, with the ball not losing shine for longer periods although there was a chance of reverse-swing disappearing.

For long, anything that was termed bowler-friendly applied by default to the faster bowlers, and this move seemed no different. The spinners, yet again, felt left out.

The feeling was that spin bowling, which had found itself under a sustained onslaught in the shortest format of the game — the T20 — was being cheated even in the ODIs.

Pacemen hold the aces

With two new balls, more men inside the circle and favourable bowling conditions, like those in some venues in Australia and New Zealand, the pacemen could dictate a game.

Just imagine Tim Southee and Trent Boult, or Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel bowling in tandem after the 34th over.

The spinners, who are most effective when the ball is scuffed, lose any little advantage they might have otherwise had.

But, it could also work another way. The spinners will be used defensively, but with more men inside the circle, it might choke the runs and put pressure on the batsmen to clear the boundary.

On the big Australian grounds, milking singles is a well-known middle-overs strategy. Can this be stalled to a certain extent? These are also the days when more and more spin bowlers are being used upfront.

External factors

Perhaps in no game do external factors — like the weather, the state of the pitch, the ground conditions, etc — challenge skills the way they do in cricket.

But, players over time have evolved, adapted and ultimately found a way out. It might just be the case here too.

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/world-cup/a-new-white-ball-at-each-end-trick-or-treat/article6893537.ece