The Gentleman's game has definitely come a very long way over the years. Today's topic of discussion is on. Has the games standards lifted or dropped? We will have to dissect this into three parts to see where we stand in terms of Cricketing Standards: a. Batting  b.Fielding

Batting:
Today's game sees extravagant shots being played like the reverse sweep, the dil-scoop, the Upper cut just to give a few examples. All these shots have bought about a style quotient in the game, leading to a run feast and overall improving the standards of the game. The Modern Day Batsman is not averse to taking any risk as far as shot making is concerned. Lets also take into consideration that the speed at which the ball is being hurled has only gone up. Today's Express bowlers clock anywhere between 140-150 kms/hr, that's is super fast, giving the batsman only a split second reaction time to decide the kind of shot he needs to play. However the Batsman of today looks more confident and fearless to take on the pace only because of the improvement in the standards of the Cricketing gear that he is equipped with. He has a helmet,arm guard,chest guard, gloves all making him even more secure to play that shot. Lets now roll back the years. I have never seen a Sunil Gavaskar or a Vivian Richards sport a Helmet. All that Sunny did was that too in later years was to don a skull cap below his fluffy hat. They had to face the worlds fiercest bowlers like Lilee, Roberts, Holding, Hadlee, Marshall and Joel Garner. Yet they seemed to accumulate runs like no mans business. To summarise yes the Batsman seem to have adapted to the modern game like a fish to water, aided by safety equipment and the urge to innovate better.

Fielding:
My mind just runs to the Jhonty Rhodes run out of Inzamam. that was precisely a turning point as far as Fielding standards are concerned.Yes I have seen some stupendous efforts in the field, like flying beyond the boundary, tapping the ball back into the field of play and then jumping back to complete the catch all in one action. the sliding stop to save that extra run, all creative and imaginative efforts of the Modern Day Fielder. However lets not forget the effort of a Eknath Solkar who has taken the most stunning of catches from very close in fielding position that too without any protective head gear. By far Fielding standards have definitely improved.

Bowling:
Not much has happened except that we have a fashionable white ball for the limited versions of the game while a pink one has also been tried. We do have the slower ball, the doosra, the carrom ball and the reverse swing, my personal opinion is that standards of bowling have not improved as drastically as batting maybe because the Bat has been ever so dominant, the faster you bowl, the faster the ball reaches the boundary or beyond.

Overall Modern Day cricket has evolved, standards have improved and there is much to be seen, the bar will continue to rise further, it will be interesting to see a one day game is split in four parts of 25 overs each, to allow for more evenness as far as the result of the game is concerned, rather than rely on the toss that seems to decide the fate of the match.