The International Cricket Council (ICC)'s forecast crackdown on oversized bats on the eve of the World Cup to give the bowlers a fairer chance in the tournament, was met with doubt by players and manufacturers, who believe that there are other reasons to blame for the unfair balance between bat and ball.
The bulging of bats would reportedly be no more evident than with the one West Indies star batsman Chris Gayle would use at this month's elite 50-over tournament, and that is 45-millimeteres thick edge.
ICC chief executive David Richardson said that the balance between batsman and bowler might have shifted a bit too much, adding that no one begrudges an AB de Villiers, who plays some superb shots to hit the fastest ODI ton off just 31 deliveries, Stuff.co.nz reported.
Richardson claimed that De Villiers, Brendon McCullum, Kumar Sangakkara, they are exceptionally talented and no one minds if they hit some great shots which go for six, but added that where some batsmen are mishitting balls and it goes for a six instead of being caught at the boundary, that is what some cricket people believe has become unfair.
Richardson said that the MCC [World Cricket Committee], as law makers, and the ICC would be looking at giving perhaps some consideration to placing limitations on the depth of a bat in particular.
Manufacturers have argued that the pending action on bat sizes was short-sighted, instead pointing to other modifications that had altered the one-day game, such as reduced boundaries, the use of two new white balls in an innings and the restrictions on fielders outside the circle.
The bat dimensions permitted in the laws of cricket are up to 96.5-centimetres in length and 10.8cm wide.
Spartan Sports owner Kunal Sharma, who is Gayle's bat provider, claimed that it has nothing to do with bat sizes, adding that it's purely because they are using a brand new ball for the first 20 overs, and he has got cricket bats there in his business and they're half the size and they ping just as much.
