One of the biggest cricket hitters of the modern era, Chris Gayle, opposes the International Cricket Council's proposed crackdown on bat sizes.
"A big boy needs a big bat," the West Indian opener said on Thursday. "People keep saying it has become a batsman's game, but bowlers are becoming more skilful too."
One of those bowlers, recently retired Australian quick, Brett Lee, also threw his support behind batsmen like Gayle and Australian opener David Warner who use 45 millimetre willows. "I think that if players like Gayle and Warner are strong enough to lift a bat that heavy, at that speed, then good for them, it makes the game a hell of a lot more exciting."
But others, like former Australian one-day batsman, Michael Bevan, agreed with the sentiments of ICC chief executive David Richardson who said on Wednesday that the balance between batsman and bowler "may have shifted a bit too much".
"Bats have improved at a far greater rate than balls, there has to be an even balance if it becomes too lopsided and becomes a six-fest then no one wants to watch that either," said Bevan.
Former Australian spinner, Jason Krejza, said that one answer could be to use the Duke balls that are favoured in England over the Kookaburra balls used in Australia. "They don't ping right off the bat like the Kookaburra," he said.
But one of Australia's all-time leading one-day run scorers, Dean Jones, said while the game was more entertaining than it had ever been, the blame for excessive boundaries lay squarely at the feet of bowlers. "The bowlers' defensive game has fallen away, they get smashed because they can't bowl yorkers properly anymore," Jones said.
Twenty20 cricket has also brought in a whole new form of training, said Jones. "Rage-hitting" involves a batsman dropping their defensive game completely and thrashing at balls inside the net repetitively and at high speeds. I remember when my coach would tear my ear off for hitting a single ball over the net."
The players unanimously agreed that one change from the ICC was essential, getting rid of 60-metre boundary ropes. "They have got to stop bringing in the boundary rope," said Lee, who spoke to Fairfax Media at one of Sydney's smallest grounds, North Sydney Oval, where he was playing in a charity event. "People want a tight, fast contest, but that's a hard ask with only 60 metres."
Bevan agreed. "Too many poor shots get rewarded with a six at that length," he said.
The impact of the closer boundary ropes has not gone unnoticed by the ICC.
"Where some batsmen are mishitting balls and it is just carrying over the rope and going for a six instead of being caught at the boundary," said chief executive David Richardson. "That is what some cricket people believe has become unfair."
Richardson told ESPNCricinfo that the boundary would be pushed back to at least 90 metres "where possible" at the World Cup.l
