There’s an interesting trend over the last two years or so when teams batting second have easily chased down 300-plus run targets. Most of these have happened on smaller than usual grounds (like the ones in New Zealand) but the biggest of 434 was on a proper big ground in Johannesburg. Mike Hussey, for one, definitely believes that 400-plus scores could be a regular occurrence in the upcoming World Cup.

“From a batting point of view, we know we are going to need bigger scores. We could see some enormous scores in the World Cup. There are some very attacking players and teams around the world.”

Interesting insight that! Most grounds in the Caribbean are not as big as the ones in Australia so there may be some merit to his assessment but in saying what he has, he is also assuming that most other bowling sides are also as suspect as the current Australian one.

Batsmen often hold sway in the one-day game but one still doesn’t see scores of 400-plus being put up regularly or being chased down that easily. What happened in New Zealand was a bit of a freak occurrence and although lightning may not strike twice, New Zealand did!

Looking at the key batsmen from most major teams, it may be possible that this is the highest-scoring World Cup ever and scored nearing or just passing 300 may become normal. But 400 is a bit much. Not just yet, anyways. Hussey has also recently been quoted as saying that perhaps Australia needed to plan better. “Down to the last batsman,” he said. So the point is it is Australia’s planning that has not been right. So obviously the execution lacks!

Scores of 300-plus may just be here to stay what with bigger batsmen and smaller grounds but chasing these every match is still a while away.