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South Africa beat Australia and all that. A Himalayan achievement, no doubt. Yesterday’s match was a tribute to the human spirit, a celebration of the never-say-die attribute of sportsmen who immortalized themselves by entering the annals of cricket history. But it is also a reminder, of the sorry state of bowlers. About the ruthlessness of the one-day game, and how it brutalises wantonly the men who run up to deliver the ball only to see it wallopped to the fence. So much that the most pertinent comment from yesterday’s game was “After watching this game, who would want to take up bowling as a career?”It is interesting that the comment comes just a day after Anil Kumble prised his 500th scalp. But that was in Tests, and test cricket is not so unbalanced as its shorter version. It is the one-day game that needs some lotsa rethinking. The rethinking did happen, but the results have been counterproductive.

For example, the Powerplays hardly help the fielding team. Unless, of course, if the batting side are five down already. Since that happens seldom, the fielding captain is often left to rue the new change in rules. The futility of the super-sub option is already out in the open, with both Graeme Smith and Ricky Ponting agreeing not to use super-subs in the recently concluded series.

The ICC needs to act, and fast. Some oft-repeated reasons like making the game more entertaining to the viewers are turning out to be short-sighted excuses. How can the ICC say ok to torturing bowlers? In short, how different is Twenty20 from a rape scene in the movies?

I have been thinking of some possible rule changes that the ICC can bring in. None of them might sound plausible, but this is the best we can do to avoid plunder.

1. Three fielders outside the ring

When the batsmen slog blindly, the fielding restrictions during the first 15 overs (now during the Powerplays) are only helping their cause. Just two fielders outside the ring means the fielding captain places a third-man and a fine-leg by default. This enables the batsmen to go over the top in front of the wicket. How about placing an extra man outside the ring? This gives the bowling side extra options. A deep cover, a long-off or a deep mid-wicket to offer extra protection.

2. Only one catcher

This can ideally be coupled with the previous rule. Instead of mandating two close-in fielders, we can relax the restriction to one catcher during the initial overs and powerplays.

3. Naming super-sub after the toss

Nowadays, the super-sub must be named prior to the toss. Thus if Rahul Dravid names Murali Kartik as his super-sub, but he wants India to bat second, the super-sub option goes waste. Thus, the captains can be allowed to name their super-sub after the order of play is determined.

4. Twelve fielders

This is a ridiculous suggestion, I know. The game can be played with an extra substitute, who is always on the field. He won’t bat or bowl, but he can be used for fielding. Too often we know that one more man would have done the difference. This extra man would give the fielding captain multiple options, say one extra man on the leg side.

5. Twelve-a-side

Another one, more ridiculous than the previous. Each side can field 12 players, of which 10 players would be regular. Of the other two, only one can bat and the other must bowl. Both of them can field. This is like selecting an Indian team with 11 players, and picking say Murali Kartik in addition. Kartik can bowl his full quota of 10 overs, but won’t be allowed to bat. Before the toss, both captains would name their teams including these two special-function players.

6. Restricted slog overs

Restricting the number of overs with field restrictions to 10. As a compromise, this could be split as the first and last 5 overs of an innings.

7. Mandatory bowler-friendly pitches

In a series of five games, at least 2 should be played on tracks that assist bowling. Like some slow tracks in India, or fast and bouncy tracks like in Perth.

I could think of some more, inspired from the Indian street game. Like having four stumps, or legalising the one-pitch catch. The latter was devised, rather ingeniously, I must admit, by some shrewd cricketing brain on some bylane in India, which knew aeons ago that supports were needed to quash the imbalance plaguing the game.

Notwithstanding the aboe, I’m quite sure that the ICC would do nothing, because they are in the money and why would they want to do anything to disturb that? They will come up with some more “amazing suggestions” like HighFives, a game of just 5 balls. Cart ‘em and win! After all, when in school, even I was a slogger. For all my vegetarianism, I know how tasty the blood of bowlers is.

By rising like a phoenix does.
And that is what the Aussies have reiterated today. The punter and his men plundered the South African attack, making the Springboks look like bunch of schoolboys. Ricky Ponting led the rampage with a blazing 164 off 105 balls, as the Aussies carted the sorry South African bowling to all parts of the ground.

Net result: Australia have posted the world’s highest one-day total ever. A staggering 434. This is the first time any side have scored more than 400, the previous best being Sri Lanka’s 398 in the 1996 World Cup.

Needing to win the final game of the series, which is tied 2-2, the Aussies have responded with such character and grit that emphasises their pre-eminence in the game. Gilchrist (55), Katich (79) and Hussey (81, off 51) were the other demolition men.

Leading the honours for the Proteas was Roger Telemachus giving away 87 off his ten overs. Ntini and Hall chipped in with 80 each, while van der Wath and Kallis managed to reached the 70s.