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Former England international turned commentator Kevin Pietersen has been on safari recently, posting pictures of himself relaxing in the African bush.
Time away has perhaps relaxed him and got him thinking because he’s also been posting some ideas about potential changes to the game. You know, how to make cricket even better.
As if it hadn’t evolved beautifully enough on its own, Pietersen is ready to take out his sledgehammer and chisel and craft it into even better shape.
While naturally Test cricket should stay untouched and untainted by the passage of time, T20I is only a couple of decades old and still establishing itself as an entertainment platform that can rival baseball and WWE.
Petersen has suggested that sixes of 100m or more should be worth 12 runs. It’s a fun suggestion and social media had fun adding further options. We’ve let our hair down and come up with a few alterations of our own – feel free to use them…
1. Double plays
The dream of every schoolboy playing for the first time is the double-play scenario, borrowed from baseball. Quite simply two batsmen can be dismissed off the same ball. And why not.
If you are caught after belting the ball to cover, and the fielder then throws down the stumps at the non-striker’s end.
Why shouldn’t that be out? Obviously, current rules say the ball is dead once a wicket falls, but it certainly ups the ante and the interest if the potential exists to remove two batters from a single ball.
2. No dead balls
To take the above scenario one step further – once again, borrowing liberally from baseball – wouldn’t it suit T20 perfectly if the ball was never dead.
Batters stealing bases is a big thing in America’s national game but imagine that was brought into the T20 mix as well.
With the ball being tossed from fielder to fielder as it makes its way back to the bowler, suddenly the batsmen set off for a quick single. If T20 is meant to be about action and runs why not make the opportunity to steal a few a bit more real.
Also read: These are the 9 biggest sixes in the history of cricket
3. Formal crowd catch
Certain franchise leagues like to make big things out of one-handed crowd catches. To keep the spectators interested and make them feel part of the game, they are offered big prizes should they claim a one-handed catch once the ball clears the fence.
Imagine how much higher the stakes would be if that catch – once verified by the third umpire – was allowed to count as a dismissal.
Crowd catches are a rarity, but they do happen – and while home fans would not want to dismiss their own players, imagine the focus and intensity if you could get your name on the scoresheet for catching a genuine star.
Picture it: Virat Kohli c [Insert random fan name] b Bumrah.
4. Make middle stump count more
T20 cricket is wildly stacked in the favour of batsmen, so how about a way to give bowlers a foot up. Bowling at the wickets is not always the best option and increasingly bowlers like to look for wide yorkers and slower bouncers.
But there are few things as thrilling as a tearaway quick ripping middle stump out the ground with a genuine inswinger. As we look for ways to adapt and change the game, how about making a middle stump dismissal translate into two wickets.
The next batsmen in never makes it to the middle, you simply crash from 100 for three to 100 for five. Talk about changing the complexion of a game in a handful of balls.
5. Incentivised powerplays
We all know that batsmen like to attack from the get-go as they look to find the fence in the early overs when the fielding restrictions are on. How about allowing the fielding team to change the balance of the equation.
For every additional fielder they want to send to the fence they must sacrifice a player. So, two additional boundary riders would mean playing with nine players.
Conversely for every player they bring off the fence during the power play, they are granted an extra fielder in the ring. So, if you forsake your two boundary riders in the power play overs you could play with 13 fielders in the ring.
It might not make much of a difference, but it would certainly give captains something to think about.
Read next: Country with the most ODI hat-tricks – it’s not India, Australia or England
The post 5 more wild suggestions after KP proposed 100-metre sixes be worth 12 runs appeared first on Cricket365.
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