Now, on to a really important topic. Cricinfo’s Martin Williamson and Sriram Veera recently posted this article with 11 proposed changes to the laws of cricket. Allow me to express my opinions:
1. Ban leg byes. I disagree. Their main problem is that leg byes allow batsmen to swing wildly and still be able to scamper a single if they miss. But this is exactly what we want! The laws state that the batsman must have attempted to hit the ball in order to run a leg bye, and this is sufficient to prevent the abuse of this rule.
2. Disallow backing up. I agree. Let’s go back to the old rule where the bowler could run out the non-striker if he backed up too much. Keeps things fair.
3. Give lbws on balls hitting outside off stump. I disagree. It would give too much advantage for a big-turning leg spinner against a left-hander. The batsman cannot just kick the ball away – he must attempt to use the bat. This, I think, is the right balance between bat and ball.
4. Don’t offer players the light. Agreed! Especially if there are lights.
5. Legitimise ball-tampering. I disagree, as you cannot allow it unconditionally. What about teeth? Using lozenges? Sunscreen on the trouser leg? Will bowlers start fortifying their finger nails? Shoe spikes? Can I take my shoe off and use my big toe nail? Can I smear the ball in mud?
6. Permit more bouncers in ODIs. I agree, but I’m slightly biased, having just watched Australia’s pace attack demolish India, Sri Lanka and others in the T20 world cup with a liberal use of balls aimed at the body.
7. Be consistent in the use of substitutes and runners. I agree. No runners, and substitutions in the field must be more tightly regulated to prevent abuse of the laws.
8. Allow the fielder to touch the boundary rope. I disagree. They say: “It will also save time spent on endless replays to determine whether the fielder touched the rope while trying to save a boundary”. No it won’t. The replays will now need to be used to determine whether the ball crossed an imaginary vertical line above where the boundary rope was before the player slid over it. This would be much more difficult and thus take many more replays.
9. Ban overthrows for direct hits. A good idea. I’m wondering if there is any way it can be abused …
10. Allow two bowlers 12 overs apiece in an ODI innings. So 2 bowlers can bowl 12, one bowls 10 and two bowl 8. Interesting. Try it at state level and see what happens. The problem is that games dominated by the bat tend to be much more interesting for the crowd than those dominated by the ball.
11. Don’t give a batsman out if he is in but his bat is in the air. Agreed, with a minor clarification. A batsman continuously moving toward a particular end is deemed to have made his ground from the first moment that any part of his body/bat is grounded over the line. He remains within his crease so long as he is still moving toward the end in question.
A few more ideas of my own. Official Lewis-Duckworth targets must be displayed on a screen at the ground, if there is one. It’s annoying to see games decided by a coach’s mathematical mistake. We need to clarify the caught rule in the age of video replays. I suggest: “if any part of the ball touches a single blade of grass, the batsman is not out”. Or is that a bit harsh?
Letters to Nature 
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