Is batting getting harder in Australia?

In the blink of an eye, it was over.

The first two-day Ashes Test in 104 years saw England suffer a crushing defeat to Australia in the first match of the series.

Have the events in Perth set the tone for the rest of the series now that the urn has been lifted in Sydney in January?

Test matches around the world are getting shorter, in a rather broad sense. England’s home series against India in the summer, when all five matches went into a fifth day, was something of an outlier.

The fast-forward button has been used more frequently in Australian Test cricket. In this nation have there been two two-day tests in the last three years. Prior to that, there had been none since 1931.

Tests in Australia are getting shorter, whether for two days or longer.

If we follow a schedule of 90 overs per day, which is true, matches in Australia had an average length of 335.4 overs between the years 2000 and 2020 (yes, over-rates are slower in reality, but we’ll park that for the time being).

Since the start of 2020-21 season, the average length of a Test in Australia has fallen to 278.1 overs, barely more than three days.

How frequently has the Kookaburra ball been cited as a distinguishing feature between Australian and international cricket?

The County Championship even introduced the Kookaburra to aid English players’ overseas travels. It resulted in some dull cricket.

Bowlers are traditionally given less assistance by the Kookaburra, according to popular wisdom. It has a smaller seam and feels larger in the hand than a machine-made ball.

However, five years ago a new version of the Kookaburra ball was introduced to Australian cricket, with consequences to batting averages and the length of Test matches.

Pace bowlers have had more movement off the pitch thanks to this new model’s larger seam. In Australia, the ball has not typically been a fast bowler’s weapon. It moves in the air. Seam movement has been the key, and it is increasing.

The new Kookaburra offers longer movement if that weren’t hard enough for batters.

The new Kookaburra ball still offers seam movement when it is 50, 60, or 70 overs old, whereas a batter can typically anticipate being rewarded with easier conditions the longer they are batting.

There was a time when bowlers could not be encouraged to bowl in Australia during the middle of the previous decade.

On England’s Ashes tour of 2017-18, the fourth Test in Melbourne yielded more than 1, 000 runs for only 24 wickets. The International Cricket Council issued a warning to the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the governing body’s “poor” surface.

The pitches have provided more to the bowlers since England last visited Australia in 2021-22.

For the past four years, pitches in this country have been rated as faster, bouncier and more inconsistent than anywhere else in the world. The key to a successful batting campaign is poise, bounce, and inconsistentness.

It is worthwhile to point out that what constitutes a “good” pitch is subject to subjective considerations at this point.

Quite often, a pitch can be described as ‘ good ‘ when it is friendly for batting, yet that does not always produce the most thrilling spectacle.

Perhaps a “good” pitch is one that results in an even game between the bat and the ball?

As a match progresses, pitchers and bowlers will encounter a variety of challenges as the pitch count changes.

Take the first Ashes Test as an example. The first three innings saw a 172-run batting record, which was awfully challenging.

Travis Head’s final innings of Australia’s run chase made a 205-pound target appear minuscule. The run chase could have been much more difficult on the fifth day of a Test, when a pitch would be at its oldest and most worn.

Head batting on the second evening, when the pitch may have been at its best for scoring runs, because the first Test was played quickly.

On BBC Radio 5 Live, former Australia opener Simon Katich praised the pitch as “absolutely brilliant.”

Ah, yes, the enduring conflict between batters and bowlers.

Low scoring is frequently due to poor batting or poor playing, which frequently degrades the quality of the bowling.

Mitchell Starc, who took 10 wickets in the match at Perth, made this point and was keen to talk up the quality of the bowling from both teams.

The home attack, one of the best of all time, stars Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon, deserves some credit for the more frequent and affordable wickets falling in Australia in recent years.

Due to the influence of shorter game formats, the art of batting has also changed.

A modern player is more likely to tackle difficult conditions with aggression than try to survive with solid defence, patience and determination.

Former England batter Kevin Pietersen wrote on X before the first Ashes Test that: “Batters now grow up to play switch-hits and hit sixes. They don’t develop the skills to survive and build an innings.

” The player is not to blame at all as it is exactly where the modern day game is. Bright lights, loud music, and financial returns for cricket boards, private equity, and private ownership are now the norm in the sport of cricket.

“I would like for the players to have more power to make the most money while they can. Keep hitting sixes and switch-hits and growing your bank accounts, dudes”!

Sir James Anderson explained Graham Gooch’s role in the 2010-11 England team’s batting coaching and how the current squad might need to adapt in the most recent Tailenders podcast.

“I remember in the 2010 series we lost in Perth, it was the Waca, but a similar pitch, and Graham Gooch, the batting coach, said the cover drive is a really difficult shot to play from length because of the bounce,” Anderson said.

“I’m sure England will be thinking this as well – I don’t have an issue with them trying to attack, that is the way they play.

In the short-term, probably some more rapid Test cricket.

The second Test in Brisbane will take place on a day-night schedule next week. India’s last pink-ball test in Australia, which took place last year, was over in the third day’s first session.

Earlier this week, Queensland won a day-night Sheffield Shield match against Victoria at the Gabba inside three days.

The Bazballers have thrived in batter-friendly environments since Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum took over the England team in 2022. On flat pitches, England have won some of their best victories.

When the ball has been on top, England have often struggled and matches have accelerated quickly. England has been bowled out in less than 40 overs on nine occasions during the Bazball era.

Anderson continued, “I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t some adjustment; I don’t think they’ll go away and say, “right, we’re going to block it.” If anything they’ll try and be more aggressive.

“It involves considering how you can adapt your game to those circumstances and learning from Head’s scoring strategies.” I don’t see them at all taking a step back and being more cautious.

Australia are vulnerable, too. In the first innings, England’s attack was thwarted by the home team, who were bowled out in 32.5 overs.

Running and wickets could happen quickly if the solution is to keep the explosive Head at the top of the order and induct an aggressor like Josh Inglis.

Perhaps the series will eventually return to ‘ normal ‘ Test cricket as the series develops, but the smart money is on the Ashes zipping by in a flash.

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