ICC's Richardson hails new ODI rules as successful

The new ODI rules might have demoralised the bowlers during the recent India-Australia seven-game series with 300-plus scores being comfortably chased by both teams, but the ICC today hailed the rule change and called it a "good success".
"The ICC Cricket Committee meets once a year and the next meeting will be in May 2014. We have had a number of changes in recent times in the ODI playing conditions. We wanted to keep things as stable and as consistent as possible leading upto the (2015) World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Overall it has been a good success.

"Overall if you look at the results so far using the fielding restrictions, we are seeing that the total runs scored in an innings have more or less remained constant, compared to previous years before the new regulations being introduced," said ICC's Chief Executive David Richardson at a media conference here today.
"The average runs in one-day innings is about 250 and the data shows that the only change is that a higher percentage of those 250 are scored in boundaries-fours and sixes, as opposed to ones and twos.
"This is one of the reasons why we introduced the fielding restrictions in the first place, to try and make the game more attacking and more exciting. There are more wickets falling and more boundaries being scored and the totals on an average are remaining the same," he insisted.

However he conceded that bowlers were having a tough time coping with the new rules in the sub continent.
"You do find wickets which are really flat, don't spin, don't seam and the bowlers really have a hard job. Conditions vary across the world and certainly in sub-continent where you find yourself on a good batting pitch that is taking no spin, no seam movement, the bowlers really have their hands full.