Is Cricket really a Batsman friendly game??

If you are a cricket lover I am sure you must have heard commentators and analysts saying "Cricket is a batsman game!" many times. Many of these commentators have been players at the highest level of the game. Most of the analysts, on the other hand, go through a lot of data crunching to come up with their trivia and statistics. I therefore wonder how can they say such a thing without realizing that it is the exact opposite. Yes, Cricket is a bowler friendly game. I am sure it must be hard to believe, especially when the big boys say otherwise. Well, I do have facts to support this view.

First of all, a batsman has to face all the bowlers bowling to him in a match. He is all geared up, with pads, gloves and helmet to keep his body safe. He has to adjust his batting for pace, swing and spin. While scoring, he has to run, not just for himself but for his partner as well. The bowler, however, has 10 other men to help him get wickets. The fielders take catches; the wicket, however, is credited to the bowler. At times, a bowler makes life difficult for a batsman, which makes him vulnerable and he can give away his wicket to some other bowler. At times, the batsman is run-out. There are times when the ball edges on to the stumps. There are times when a non-striker batsman is given run-out because the ball has hit the stumps with the batsman out of crease, thanks to the bowler who could touch the ball before hitting the stumps, luckily. A bowler gets so many chances and such good support from the team to take wicket while a batsman needs to make sure he does not give any chance of taking his wicket.

In terms of statistics as well, it turns out that the bowlers have always had an advantage in the game.

Let us look at the top 2 batsman in Tests, ODI's and T-20's with their top 5 scores. It does take a lot of time and deliveries to face for even the top class batsman to score meaningful amount of runs. Even in T-20, the fastest half century took 12 deliveries. However, for the bowlers, things are easier. In a test match, a bowler needs to bowl a maximum of 20 good deliveries to take wickets, while 10 in ODI's and T-20's. All bowlers need not produce all of those deliveries; they can produce a few individually as well plus the fielders are there to take catches and make run-outs, while the batsman can also play on to the stumps.

The commentators and analysts definitely need to ponder over this.