Shield batsmen at record low ebb

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Ricky Ponting topped the run-scoring charts for the 2012-13 Shield season. Source:AAP

IF anyone needed more proof of the declining standard of batsmen in Australian cricket, look no further.

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After Australia's capitulation in the second Ashes Test at Lord's, serious questions were asked about the calibre of willow-wielders being produced by this country.

A quick look at the numbers from the last 10 Sheffield Shield seasons paints an extremely disturbing picture of the trend in Aussie cricket.

Legendary batsmen such as Greg Chappell - who is also Cricket Australia's national talent manager - have been lining up to lament the lack of domestic batting depth, and the numbers back this up emphatically.

Statistics provided by Fox Sports Stats show the total number of runs scored in a Sheffield Shield season has dived dramatically over the past 10 years.

The last three years have been particularly worrying, with the total runs scored in each of the past three seasons well below the average of the last decade, with the 2012-2013 season the lowest-scoring season during this period.

The national batting average in the Shield has also dropped significantly, down from a high of 35.71 10 years ago to a paltry 26.10 last season.

State talent manager at Cricket NSW, David Freedman, believes simply blaming Twenty20 cricket for Australia's batting woes is too simplistic.

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Check out the table at the bottom of the page to see how the runs have dried up in Sheffield Shield over the past decade.

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"I don't think there's any one answer to the question, I think it's a combination of a lot of factors," Freedman said. "Definitely the pitches in first-class cricket over recent times have been too heavily in favour of the bowlers in my opinion.

"It's very easy to blame Twenty20 cricket, but I think it's more about the scheduling of the Big Bash as opposed to the actual format itself.

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"All countries play T20 cricket, the good players can adapt between it.

"I just think that big chunk of time out of the first-class season, where the guys aren't getting red ball cricket has an impact."

Even those who are topping the run-scoring charts pale in comparison to their counterparts from the 2000s.

The record for most runs in a Sheffield Shield season was broken three times from 2003 to 2008, by Michael Bevan, Matthew Elliott and Simon Katich respectively, with Katich holding the current record through his 1506 runs at the Bradman-esque average of 94.12 in 2007-08.

Compare that to the last three seasons, where nobody has been able to break the magical 1000-run mark - and the fact the top run-scorer in 2012-13 was retired Test great Ricky Ponting - and the dearth of genuine Test batsmen emerging in Australia is painfully apparent.

LAST 10 SHEFFIELD SHIELD SEASONS
SEASON	INNS	NO	RUNS	AVG
2012-13	1,174	149	26,751	26.10
2011-12	1,137	150	28,680	29.06
2010-11	1,130	146	27,553	28.00
2009-10	1,081	148	30,289	32.46
2008-09	1,120	158	29,861	31.04
2007-08	1,120	156	30,828	31.98
2006-07	1,155	159	31,210	31.34
2005-06	1,109	148	30,692	31.94
2004-05	1,188	148	30,903	29.71
2003-04	1,127	161	34,496	35.71
AVERAGE	1,134	152	30,126	30.68
Fox Sports Stats 2013

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