SIR Richard Hadlee wants to add a new dimension to cricket - make it more like American Football.
Now before all you traditionalists start shredding your flannels, it should be mentioned that Hadlee was only talking about the one-day game, not Test cricket.
'I'm a traditionalist when it comes to Test cricket. I hope this survives as it is, and it should not be mucked around with. But a new dimension can be added to the one-day game,' said the former Test great yesterday.
'Like American Football, I think one-day cricket can have an offensive and a defensive system. You can have a team of say 18 players . . . 11 batsmen and seven bowlers. After you bat, the side is changed and you bring in the bowlers,' he explained.
'You get plenty of one-sided games today. A side chasing a total of 250, might be struggling at 50 for four and the game is all but over. This inter-change of players brings in another extension to the game,' added Hadlee who played 115 one-day internationals in his career.
In Hong Kong for a couple of days for coaching clinics and speaking engagements, courtesy of Crown Worldwide Group, Hadlee said the new innovations had to be brought in if cricket was to remain commercially viable.