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        Communists, God bless them, avowedly take not much interest in sports. But if they, by now Mao would have been paraphrased to read 'power flows from the handle of a cricket bat'. And for once, Communists would have been spot on.

        This World Cup has given a new meaning to power play as batsmen, seemingly, armed with bludgeons, have underscored the general belief that only the terminal foolhardy take up bowling as a vocation. It is not just smaller grounds, swing-less white balls and general rules stacked against the bowlers that have made cricket an unequal game. The new bats, that are seemingly made from iron bars, have made the game an one-way street, and bowling is a 'sad' masochist exercise.

        In this tournament, a total of 216 sixers were hit till the end of first round of matches. To put things in perspective, the entire World Cup of 2003 saw only 265 sixers.

        A couple of shots of Mathew Hayden against West Indies last night was very educative and illustrative. Stepping down the track against Darren Powell, the burly Aussie bat found the bowler niftily adjusting his length and pitching it short. Cramped for space, most batsmen would have defended it or miscued the shot if they had continued with the stroke they set out. Hayden opted for the latter and still emerged successfully as pulled the ball into the extra cover boundary.

        The second shot, against Marlon Samuels, was even more astounding as Hayden beaten in flight and off the pitch, and losing grip on his bat, savagely swatted the ball with one hand straight down. His balance and position were both clumsy and awry, and he was in no state to put his full force behind the ball. In such cases usually the ball balloons up to mid-on or mid-off or falls in no-man's land. But here the white ball lifted up and, as if impelled by a divine power, just sailed beyond the border rope. It was improbable as it almost put to lie elementary laws of physics. The expression of disbelief on Brian Lara's face as he pursed his thick lips and sighed haplessly said it all. You immediately understood that bats have not merely changed the face of cricket but also its soul.

        There is an inevitability to the development in bats as it is part of the technological evolution. But the worrisome aspects are two-fold. One, there is no concomitant improvement in the quality of balls — if anything, the white colour precludes the swing and movement of the ball both in air and off the pitch. Secondly, power can sometimes override technique and finesse —— the two cornerstones on which batting is built.

        The power that the bats provide is able to camouflage the lacunae in some modern batsmen's ability and skill. When mishits and idle swats can fetch you runs by the ton then why work on batting! This will insidiously wean talents away from taking to bowling. When a Leverock and a McGrath are both going to be taken for plenty, irrespective of what and how they bowl, then there is something tragically wrong.

        Even as newer and newer records in batting are falling by the wayside, bowlers are just running for cover. There has been no five-for from any bowler in this World Cup (on the contrary, 10 hundreds have been scored till the first phase). A total of 311 wickets has been taken at a cost of 4.91 runs per wicket. The figure looks acceptable only because we have had many batsmen from the minnows in fray.

        The ICC honchos have to get around to ensure a level playing field. They have to do it fast as cricket is now an one-sided business without any real contest, that soul of sport. Otherwise, bowlers, along with the spectators, may stay away from the game.