100-ball Cricket Pitches Blamed for Scoring Woes in 2024 Season
Trent Rockets captain Lewis Gregory believes that the subpar playing surfaces across the country are the primary reason behind the decline in scoring in the men’s Hundred competition this season. The average first-innings total has plummeted from 155 last year to just 133 in 2024, with only one score of 170-plus so far, compared to 14 such innings in the 2023 edition.
While some players have pointed to the modified ball as the culprit, which features additional lacquer for branding purposes, Gregory insists that the equipment specifications remain unchanged from the previous season. Instead, he attributes the low-scoring games to “tired” pitches towards the end of an extended English summer.
“I don’t think the surfaces have been particularly great across the board,” Gregory said. “These balls do seem to swing a fraction more than the normal white Kookaburras that we use in the Blast. I just think the combination of that and some tired pitches at the back end of an English season has made it quite difficult for free-flowing striking.”
Trent Rockets struggled against the substantial new-ball movement in their 100-ball cricket live match against Birmingham Phoenix at Edgbaston on Monday, slipping to 22 for 4 early on. Gregory acknowledged the challenges posed by the conducive bowling conditions, with the ball “getting off straight a lot” and making it “difficult to whack out of the park.”
The Hundred is being played at the same eight venues as previous years, but the unusually high rainfall experienced in the UK this season has contributed to the groundstaff’s challenges in preparing suitable pitches. “I’m not quite sure what the cause is, but in the past we’ve played on some better surfaces than we have this year,” Gregory said.
In a tactical move during the Edgbaston defeat, Trent Rockets opted to retire batter Imad Wasim out with 14 balls remaining, bringing in right-hander Chris Green to target the shorter leg-side boundary against off-spinner Dan Mousley. Gregory explained the decision, stating that the team was “hoping that he could reproduce” his previous heroics of 25 runs off just 7 balls.
The 100-ball cricket schedule has seen a growing trend of teams tactically retiring batters, with Imad joining the likes of Sam Billings, Wayne Madsen, and Kathryn Bryce in being sent back to the pavilion this season. Gregory believes this ploy will become increasingly common in the short-form format, as teams look to create “small margins that might help you.”
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