New Delhi: Are hulks taking over cricket? Australian captain Ricky Ponting said the other day that the era of ‘outstanding small batsmen’ like Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara was over.

Ponting counted himself among the ‘small’, although he is five feet and ten inches. Perhaps, by Aussie standards, he is not ‘tall’.

In the Australian captain’s view, ‘power batsmen’ like England’s Kevin Pietersen and fellow-Australian Matthew Hayden will dominate henceforth. Don Bradman, the greatest of them all, was only 5'7'', Sachin is even shorter at 5'5'' which has earned him the tag of ‘Little Master’. The original ‘Little Master’ Sunil Gavaskar is 5'4'', but Lara is not doing all that bad at 5'8''.

In contrast Pietersen is 6'4'' and another dominating batsman Hayden is 6'2''.

Ponting had similar views about the trend in bowling as he said taller bowlers were proving to be more dangerous and hard to deal with. “If you are short, you need to be exceptional.”

But India’s own Ramakant Desai, a genuine quicky in his era, was not a tall fast bowler at 5'6'', nor was the devastating West Indian Malcolm Marshall, who was 5'10'' like Ponting, but took as many as 367 wickets in 81 Tests and picked 157 in 136 one-dayers at an express speed.

On the other hand, West Indian Joel Garner is 6'8'' and Glenn McGrath towers at 6'6'' while Brett Lee is above 6'1''.

Does height matter, then? Most cricketers of the past think it doesn’t.

Former India captain Chandu Borde feels height has nothing to do with batting skills, as batsmen improvise to cope with circumstances.

“It is just Ponting’s observation. Now-a-days batsmen improvise a lot. They scoop the ball and play new shots. Small batsmen also hit tall bowlers. Height has nothing to do with batting skills,” he said.

Former India player and coach Madan Lal said it was true that cricket was becoming a power game but added skills and techniques would remain as important as ever.

Javed Miandad feels cricket is a mindgame. “Look, cricket is played in the mind and the basics remain the same. Obviously, you have different batsmen of different styles and physique in different eras. But the basics remain the same,” Miandad said.

He felt the reason batsmen like Pietersen, Matthew Hayden or Chris Gayle, who rely on power, were dominating was because the quality of bowling had gone down. “In our days just facing the West Indies pace battery was a mighty experience. I don’t think height or weight makes much of a difference,” he said.

Miandad’s compatriot Sadiq Mohammed echoed Miandad’s views, saying cricket was still a game of beauty and timing.

“You look at the history of the game. The shorter batsmen like Gavaskar or Lara have dominated and I don’t think that will change in future,” said the former Pakistani opener.

Another former Pakistan captain and wicketkeeper, Rashid Latif, however was in sync with Ponting. “Yes, the times are changing. I thing the big guys are dominating and will continue to dominate because they have certain advantages on the pitches that international cricket is played on these days,” he said.

“A tall and powerful player like Hayden or Pietersen can negotiate the height of ball better and punch it with more power,” Latif said.

The Tall and the short of it

Brett Lee (6'1')
Matthew Hayden (6'2'')
Kevin Pietersen (6'4')
Glenn McGrath (6'6')
Joel Garner (6'8')

Sunil Gavaskar (5'4'')
Sachin Tendulkar (5'5'')
Ramakant Desai (5'6')
Don Bradman (5'7')
Brian Lara (5'8'')