Had a long discussion with my son and grandson yesterday on this and the main conclusion was that the modern batsman (sorry batter - thought that was something to cook fish in) plays at almost every ball.
The reason for this of course is the ascendancy of one day (pyjama) cricket where dot balls are considered gold dust - so every ball must be played at.
Geoff Boycott would probably not have got into the Yorkshire side these days - let alone England.