Have Batsmen forgotten the idea of playing out a session

Batsmen, it appears, have forgotten the idea of playing out a session. They are hasty, unsure outside home and fail to read the bowler. This is why players such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara and Jacques Kallis were such great students of the game. They adapted and changed their game as they grew older, and their record speaks for itself.

www.espncricinfo.com/the-ashes-2015/content/story/908617.html

Rod Marsh spoke more about attitude than technique or conditions.

He wondered whether the current generation, raised on Twenty20 matches and also a constant stream of fixtures

that means the next innings is seldom far away, had the requisite selfishness to bat all day, preserving their wicket at all costs -

whether it be to the opposition bowlers, their batting partners or even spectators.

Blame it on T20
It has really taken a huge toll on the attitude of the batsmen.They look to thrash those balls and impress spectators.

It works,but only sometimes,more often than not they are bereft of ideas of how to tactically play in a session.

Well it seems that t20 cricket has taken its toll on the mentally weaker batsmen and so they fail to adjust for test cricket. It seems like in the future odi will be the new standard for testing batsmen patience.

With the advent of T20 cricket and teams playing more ODIs than ever, almost all batsman need to feel bat on ball, and are looking to score at an all-time high. As such, T20 cricket has fundamentally changed the way Test cricket is played. Batters are now more attacking instinctively and playing too many shots which has sped up the game.

Compounding matters further, there are no longer separate Test, T20 and ODI teams. Players are expected to play all formats of the game. As a result, two of the biggest differences I have seen since the inception of T20 cricket is the eradication of the forward defensive shot and leaving the ball outside off-stump. Batsman just don't know how to leave the ball outside off-stump anymore and are more susceptible than ever to anything in the corridor of uncertainty. Alastair Cook is a rare breed in this day and age. Although his dip in form last year was in large part due to his involvement in the ODI setup.

By and large, leaving the ball outside off stump has become a forgotten art. Batsman are now playing at more balls than ever and looking to score at historic rates. This is born out in the numbers:

Between 1990-1999, of the 54 top order batsman (1-6) to have played at least 30 Test matches, only 15 (28%) had a strike rate above 50 and just 3 (6%) (Jayasuriya, Lara and Azharuddin) had strike rates better than 60. 11 (20%) batsman had a strike rate under 40.

Between 2000-2009, of the 62 top order batsman (1-6) to have played at least 30 Test matches, 32 (52%) had a strike rate above 50 and 9 (15%) had a strike rate better than 60. Just 3 (5%) batsman had a strike rate under 40. Sehwag lead the way with an incredible strike rate of 80.77. Mark Richardson had the slowest strike rate (37.81).

Between 2010-2015 of the 68 top order batsman (1-6) to have played at least 15 Test matches, 35 (51%) have a strike rate above 50 and 9 (13%) have a strike rate above 60. Just 2 (3%) batsman (Thirimanne and Paranavitana) have a strike rate under 40. Sehwag again lead the way with a strike rate of 87.43.

Players these days would rather travel the world playing T20 cricket as opposed to playing domestic first-class four day cricket. At its
best, Test cricket is about technique and being mentally strong. Being able to bat all day at the crease, building an innings, fighting and grinding down the opposition. The exact opposite of the smash-and-bash of T20 that is overwhelmingly slanted towards the batsman.

In my previous post I theorized that Test cricket has sped up since the inception of T20 cricket which has ultimately resulted in the shortening of the game and producing more results. In doing some research, the numbers back this up.

In 2014, 80.49% Tests had a win-loss result. In 2005, it was 75.41%, and 71.11% in 1995. If you take it back even further to 1985, the win-loss percentage further drops to 57.69%. That is a major increase in results over the last 30 years.

Even if you leave out the arrival of Sri Lanka (1982), Zimbabwe (1992) and Bangladesh (2000) on the Test scene - the trend remains much the same.

For instance, between the years 1980-89, only 52.74% got a win-loss result in Tests involving Australia, England, West Indies, India, New Zealand and Pakistan.

In the following two decades and a half, there's a distinct upward curve in the win-loss percentage: Between 1990-99, the win-loss percentage was 67.73%. Between 2000-09 it increased to 71.88%, and then from 2010-2015 it has grown to 77.03%. And this includes the domination exhibited by South Africa.