Australian skipper Ricky Ponting feels the days of pint-sized batting maestros like Sachin Tendulkar, Brain Lara and himself are over as a new generation of hulks like Kevin Pietersen and Matthew Hayden redefine batting with their sheer power.
"It is much more a power game than it ever used to be. Someone mentioned to me a little while ago he thought myself, Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar are the last of a generation of outstanding small batsmen," Ponting was quoted as saying in The Courier Mail.
"The next generation will be power batsmen. I really think that is the way the game is going. It will be the same with the bowlers. All the wickets around the world are pretty flat now and you need big, tall bowlers who are going to get extra bounce," he added.
The Aussie skipper said the physical enormity of players like Hayden and Pietersen made them all the more intimidating for opposition.
"When Matthew Hayden takes one or two steps down the wicket it makes a bowler feel as if he is standing on top of you. I know what it feels like when you have big tall bowlers bowling at you. Curtly Ambrose used to feel as if he was on top of you.
"Pietersen is the same. You just have such a small margin for error with those guys because they are so strong," he explained.
Ponting said the trend for bowlers was also similar with taller bowlers proving to be more dangerous and hard to deal with. "If you are short you are going to need to be exceptional. Brett Lee is because he can bowl at 160kmph," he said.
