The Asia Cup showed the reality of modern cricket with the bat dominating on placid tracks with no movement off the pitch or in the air. The ball was dispatched to all corners of the park and the only bright spot as far as bowling was concerned was Ajanta Mendis, the mystery spinner picking up the Man of the Series award with 17 wickets at 8.52. Is this the beginning of the end for the bowler, then?

Slowly but surely there have been a handful of changes to make the game as interesting as possible, the latest being the switch-hitting thanks to the England batsmen Kevin Pietersen, who, before the bowler reached his delivery stride, switched to a left-hander's grip and stance and twice hit New Zealand's Scott Styris for six in a one-day international. Can the game accept a bowler who is bowling left-handed over the wicket without informing the umpire? So how come a batsman is allowed to do what he wants?

The batsmen are smiling with everything going their way. The recently concluded Asia Cup saw the top three batsmen of India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan making merry. No pace, no bounce, non-existent swing, power plays, field restrictions, free hits off the front foot, no balls, short boundaries, better bats, the list is endless.

The bowler has intelligently adapted to the contest by having new arrows in the quiver - well disguised, slower deliveries, off cutters and using angles of the crease to their advantage. The averages of batsmen have swollen with the boundaries drawing nearer or shorter. The one bouncer per over rule must have provided some breather for the bowlers, since its introduction has kept the batsman guessing. But clearly, the modern-day bowler is running for cover.

Spectators come to see batsmen make a mockery of the bowler and expect entertainment with plenty of sixes and fours. Totals in excess of 300 were considered safe with skippers going into the innings break thinking they hold the upper hand. Not any longer though, because of Twenty20, ODI totals over 300 are no longer safe with shorter boundaries and lightning fast outfields.

So does the bowler deserve a level playing field? Pundits and administrators are sceptical about the introduction of private ownership as it is likely to pose uncomfortable situations at odds with the interests of international cricket. So there is a face-off between bringing in more fans at the expense of a one-dimensional, bat-dominated game. The fast bowling stack is exhausted with the likes of Glenn McGrath, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and Shane Bond disappearing from the scene for different reasons.