Four bowlers bowling five overs will make T20 a better contest, suggests Shane Warne
Shane Warne is currently doing commentary in the England vs Australia series
|Getty
Shane Warne has suggested a change that four bowlers should be allowed to bowl five overs to bridge the gap between bat and ball in T20 cricket. Warne asserted that increasing the number of overs will ensure that the best bowlers get the most overs, making the game a little less batting-friendly.Â
T20 cricket is the most batting friendly format in cricket without a doubt, where batsmen regularly tonk the bowlers on flat wickets with shorter boundaries. The relevance of quality bowlers will be finished pretty soon if the rules continue to favor the batsmen, and only bowlers left would be the ones who couldnât make into the team as batsmen. Â
As per the current rules, in a T20 match, a bowler is allowed to bowl a maximum of four overs, and there are no restrictions on the numbers of bowlers used during an inning. Warne suggested that an extra over per bowler will make the contest between bat and ball even.
The former leg-spinner believes that the suggestion will help bridge the gap between bat and ball in T20 cricket. With the format considered to be heavily in favour of the batsmen, Warneâs idea comes across as a fresh take that promises to make for a better contest between the bat and ball.
âWhat about four bowlers bowl five overs? I just think itâll make for a better contest between bat and ball. You want your best bowlers bowling as much as you can as T20 is so much in the batsmenâs favour,â Warne said on Sky Sports Cricket while doing commentary during the second T20I between England and Australia as quoted by Hindustan Times.Â
âWhen you get a couple of gun bowlers like this [Archer and Wood] you want to give them another over up front.â
The cricketer-turned analyst further stated that the spinners can be useful in the middle overs and pacers can bowl effectively in the beginning and end, in case his suggestion is picked up. Warne also opined that it would help in getting rid of players who are not experts in any one department of the game as the teams would then prefer players who can be played as specialists.Â
âWouldnât it be nice to give them five? You can obviously have eight bowlers bowl whatever but I would like to see bowlers be able to bowl five. Rashid could bowl five overs in the middle which would be a real good battle for the batsmen against spin, while you can bowl your quicks at the beginning and at the end,â Warne said.
âI reckon it gets rid of the bits-and-pieces and you can pick your best batsmen and best bowlers when selecting your team.â
