The Rise of the Big Hitters

With Sachin Tendulkar scoring a One Day International record, of 200 not out, history has been made. Should it be a surprise though, that such a score has been scored in the modern game? Since the invention of Twenty20 cricket, the speed of scoring has increased rapidly.
In One Day International cricket the RPO (runs per over), have been improving nearly year on year. In the nineties and up to 2001, the RPO on aggregate for the years One Day Internationals, were under 4.72. Since then only in 2003 has it dipped under that (to 4.67) and since 2005 has been near or over 5 RPO (5.1, 4.82, 5.04, 4.93, 5.12, 5.32 consecutively). It was in 2005 that Twenty20 Internationals were introduced. Whether its a coincidence or not, big hitting is becoming increasingly the norm.
Even the long format of the game has seen an increase in fast scoring rates. In the nineties and the year 2000, the RPO (runs per over) in Test cricket were under 3 RPO. The RPO increased over the early nineties to 3.3 by 2004. Since then it has increased further (bar 2008) and is now at its highest at 3.45.
This change in style has transformed not just the game as a whole, but players careers. Darren Maddy might have been a forgotten man after his 3 test appearances. The invention of Twenty20 changed that. He soon took the game and boasts a Twenty20 average of 32.97 and a strike rate of 135.30. His Twenty20 International average isn't bad either at 28.25, with an incredible strike rate of 141.25. Its not a new thing for a player to break into the national team, just for shorter forms of the game. Neil Fairbrother was widely regarded as England's best one day batsman in the nineties. Making 75 appearances at an average of 39.47 and a strike rate of 72.06 (a fairly small figure, compared to the big hitters of the modern game). Yet despite all of those appearances, he only played 10 Test matches.
The question is, with the speed of scoring increasing in all formats, has the balance shifted? Could we now find that the big hitters, replace the Test stonewallers. There is already debate over whether the likes of Eoin Morgan can be moved into the England Test team, despite a relatively low first class average of 36.54.
If he gets into the team he could find new equipment to help him. As the scoring speed has increased, the bats have become more advanced. This has even included a bat to increase hitting power for boundaries (the Mongoose). Whether the equipment has made the difference, or the game has forced the equipment to change, is debatable. One thing is for sure though, cricket is faster paced than ever before.