Dale Steyn concerned for the future of fast bowlers

In an interview with Cricket Monthly, Dale Steyn expressed his concerns for the future of fast bowlers and pleaded with cricket's administrators to treat fast bowlers on par with batsmen if the art of fast bowling is to survive in the future.

Quote:"You need people to be able to bowl at 160kph," Steyn told the Cricket Monthly in an in-depth interview in the latest issue of the magazine, to be published on March 2. "You need people who take five wickets. You need people who bowl 150kph on day five to keep that inspiration up for future kids. I can do that. But we need help from whoever runs world cricket."

Steyn said that if the pitches, money and resources were not in favour of fast bowlers, he feared "fast bowling would disappear" as the future generation of players would turn their attention to the more lucrative and easier art of batting.

"If the IPL is all about guys getting US$2 million for hitting the ball out of the ground, then who wants to bowl fast? You need a fast bowler that is earning that in the IPL," said Steyn, who will be turning out for Gujarat Lions in the 2016 IPL tournament, having been bought by the new franchise for Rs 2.3 crores (approximately US$336,000).

But Steyn's concerns went beyond the monetary. "You need pitches where players are able to take ten wickets. You need [bowling] heroes in the game, where kids can say, 'I want to be that guy. I don't just want to be AB de Villiers. I don't just want to be Virat Kohli.' Otherwise, bowling is going to disappear."

I do agree with Steyn in that T20 and even ODI's have become far too favourable to batsman. It is a bit disheartening to keep running in knowing that you are going to get slapped over the ropes two or three times an over. The recent limited over series between Australia and India was a prime example of bowlers getting taken to the woodshed with no reward.

The current Asia Cup has actually produced some very favourable bowling pitches which has created a much even balance between bat and ball. Of course, MS Dhoni was quick to criticise these pitches claiming that they are too bowler friendly and have failed to provide a suitable warm up experience for the World Cup. Which emphasises Steyn's point perfectly.

That 52 ball record TON by Baz : was a TEST match

to break Viv , another TEST and Adam Gilchrist !

So  fastest TONS belong to TEST cricket  !

I agree with Dale Steyn. We no more see a battery of genuine fast bowlers as was the case in the past. The distribution of quick bowlers has become sporadic, to say the least. therefore, the emergence of new and effective fast bowlers are few and apart. Dale is also concerned that the wickets that are being prepared do not offer much support to the fast bowlers, which may also be one of the reasons why many youngsters are not being motivated to strive to become great fast bowlers

More help for fast bowlers is definitely needed. In a fast paced world with a lot of physical strain apart from playing fast bowlers find it very difficult to keep themselves fit and raring to go. Steyn has been remarkably fit for most of his career and only recently has shown tendency to get injured.

[quote author=thedeatheater1410 link=topic=103057.msg681933#msg681933 date=1456981799]
More help for fast bowlers is definitely needed. In a fast paced world with a lot of physical strain apart from playing fast bowlers find it very difficult to keep themselves fit and raring to go. Steyn has been remarkably fit for most of his career and only recently has shown tendency to get injured.
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you can treat that also as consequence of the growth of the wicb bureaucracy that has choked west indies cricket to death. 

we now have a live, strong, healthy and kicking wicb bureau full of fat parasites, while we do not have one decent fast bowler or one decent west indian cricket pitch that encourages bowlers..or batsmen...because we have no batsmen either

[quote author=mapoui link=topic=103057.msg681942#msg681942 date=1456997370]
you can treat that also as consequence of the growth of the wicb bureaucracy that has choked west indies cricket to death. 

we now have a live, strong, healthy and kicking wicb bureau full of fat parasites, while we do not have one decent fast bowler or one decent west indian cricket pitch that encourages bowlers..or batsmen...because we have no batsmen either
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I am very disappointed by the kind of pitches West Indies have at home, especially the ones in the recent England Australia series. They had simply too many low and slow wickets, almost as if they were trying to nullify the opposition and salvage a draw rather than winning.

If nothing is going to be done to make pitches more bowler friendly, then perhaps we should give some thought about going back to the smaller bats used in the 70s and 80s. The size of bats these days is getting slightly out of hand. Check out Barry Richards holding the bat he used throughout his career compared to David Warners current behemoth.

The ICC association is trying their best to give bowlers a fair chance. Like 5 fielders can be placed outside the ring after the 40th over and all. Cricket was always a Batsman's game and with leagues like CPL, IPL Big Bash, it is supporting the very statement. Even in a low scoring match, man of the match is being given to batsmen which is wrong as in a low scoring match Bowlers are responsilbe for the outcome of the game. This has to change.