Get cricket in the mix too

Over the last 147 years since Test cricket was first played cricket has innovated from time to time whether it was in the matter of the weight or size of the cricket ball or the introduction of new laws regarding LBW dismissals or the bowlersrsquo frontfoot noball rule Changes have been made to the laws of the game in an endeavour to make cricket more popular and more entertaining amongst spectatorsIn that respect perhaps the most significant changes were made in the 1960s and 1970s when oneday cricket matches were introduced with a view to making the game more entertaining for spectatorsIt was then thought that Test cricket played over five days with a rest day in between was dying and would not attract crowds consistently Of course this was proved to be incorrect for instance in the early rsquo60s when the Australians thronged to the stadia for one of the most riveting Test series in 196061 against the touring West Indies under Frank WorrellHowever the most significant innovation introduced in cricket to make it more entertaining and spectatorfriendly was the introduction of the T20 format This was now fastpaced cricket and from an entertainment point of view it was a great hit attracting large crowds The IPL became the finest league that cricketmdashor for that matter any sportmdashhas ever known The introduction of T20 cricket also gave a huge impetus to fielding standards with players flinging themselves about on the boundary line to save certain boundaries and taking spectacular and breathtaking catches on the boundary line juggling to stay within the territory of the playing areaBut the last IPL season threw up the criticism that the T20 format had become too batsmanfriendly and that seeing sixes being hit virtually off every second ball was making the game boringSo what now for the future How does the game reinvent itself What new form can it takeAs I see it in the future the greatest innovation that cricket can introduce will be Mixed Cricket Mixed Cricket Yes cricket played by teams each of which will have a minimum stipulated number of femalecricketers in its ranksFor many years all the racquet sportsmdashtennis squash table tennis badmintonmdashhave successfully included the Mixed Doubles section in their tournaments So also for some years now track and field events have included a Mixed Relay in the 4x100m where two of the legs are run by female athletes If these other sports can successfully have men and women playing the same event why should cricket be left behindUndoubtedly there will be a need to tweak the laws of the game It would be necessary to provide for example that each team in a mixed match must have at least four maybe five female cricketers and to make it even more interesting to provide that the wicketkeeper of the side must be a woman cricketerUndoubtedly too the laws in regard to the weight of the ball will need to be amended At present the ball used in menrsquos cricket is heavier than the one in womenrsquos cricket matches But it is not an insurmountable problem to arrive at some uniform weight for mixed matchesAs far as ground and infrastructure facilities are concerned most cricket grounds hosting international matches today in any case have separate facilities for women cricketers considering the tremendous growth of womenrsquos cricket and the huge increase in spectator interest That should not be a problem Any space constraints can be taken care of by providing separate womenrsquos changing areas within the larger playersrsquo dressing roomsThe scores and records of such mixed matches will not be added to the playersrsquo official career records but can be separately maintained as has been done for the Kerry Packerrsquos World Series Cricket matchesJust imagine how interesting it would be to see a team in which Jemimah Rodrigues bats at No 4 with Rishabh Pant in at No 5 Or an opening pair of Smriti Mandhana and Sanju Samson facing up to Arshdeep Singh and Arundhati ReddyResearch has shown that the speeds at which women fast bowlers deliver the ball are much lower than the speeds in the menrsquos game Menrsquos fast bowling speeds vary between 120 to 150 kmph in womenrsquos cricket the fastest deliveries would be about 120 kmphHowever in the matter of spin though women spinners would undoubtedly be slower in the air and off the pitch than their male counterparts I am sure that the degree of turn in both cases would be moreor less similarSuch mixed matches would lead to several interesting tactical decisions which may be required to be taken For instance with a male speedster like Mohammed Siraj bowling from one end would the male batsman have to protect his female batter at the nonstrikerrsquos end by retaining strike So too captains will have to decide which of the overs would be bowled by the women fast bowlers or spinnersThis will add a great deal of interest and variety to the sport The fear that such mixed matches will result in lowering of standards is misplaced Both the menrsquos and womenrsquos game will benefit from such mixed interactions And spectator interest will rise manifoldSince the shorter versions of the game have now virtually become a matter of pure entertainment such mixed matches have the potential to become the most entertaining form of the gameThis is an idea whose time has come All it requires is a Lalit Modindashtype entrepreneurmdashor the BCCI itselfmdashto tap into this market and initiate a new cricket league featuring mixed matches It is something worth looking forward toFredun De Vitre a former radio and television commentator is now a member of the legal fraternityClayton Murzellorsquos Pavilion End column will be back next weekThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper