Shane Warne
Ripping apart the argument that cricket has become too batsmen friendly, spin legend Shane Warne has expressed his disappointment at the current bowlers' lack of willingness to hone their skills, innovate, execute and fight, a far cry from his days of dominance.
In recent years, teams have often comfortably chased down 200-plus totals or set bigger targets in the T20 format, thanks to the smaller boundaries and field restrictions in the first six overs.
But Warne thinks the bowlers are not doing enough to challenge the batsmen. "In T/20 cricket I'm disappointed that the majority of bowlers accept the fact they will get whacked and smashed all over the park. They are not improving or executing skills at the same rate as the batsman are. I understand anyone can have an off day - but it's not good enough," Warne tweeted.
While his first tweet was directed at the spinners, Warne's next post was meant for the fast bowlers. "A lot of people complaining about the size of bats, boundary ropes in to far, flat wickets etc! But how about the bowlers improve & execute plans better. Are fast bowlers bowling 30/40 Yorkers every day at practise or is sports science not allowing them to practise that skill?" he wrote.
His remarks came after Sydney Thunder pulled off a remarkable BBL run chase to upset the Brisbane Heat in Canberra, with Warne describing it "as bad a bowling as I've seen in T20 cricket".
One the game's all-time greats, Warne, now 51, retired from Test cricket as Australia's highest wicket-taker and second highest in the world. Earlier this year, Warne had proposed longer boundaries and a maximum five overs to each bowler to strike a better balance between the bat and ball in the shortest format of the game.
