It was a freak accident and nothing to do with modern bowling, balls or pitches. The intensity of fast bowling in cricket at this moment is as low as it has been for decades.
I am not sure that bowlers are any more aggressive now, than they were in the 70's and 80's. Have a look at Lillee and Thomson literally battering England in 1974, or ask any of the English batsmen from the 1984&85 'Blackwashes' if they felt that Marshall, Holding, Garner, Walsh and Patterson 'lacked aggression' - I think that they would disagree.
All in all just a terrible accident, and a very rare one. In fact other than Stuart Broad last year against India, I cannot recall the last time that a test batsmen was seriously injured by the short ball.
Certainly the level of fast bowling around the world is nowhere near where it was in the 90's, when as an England batsmen you had the joy of facing McGrath/Lee/Gillespie, Pollock/Donald/Ntini, Wasim/Waqar/Shoaib, Ambrose/Walsh/Bishop.
All we had to fire back with was Phil DeFreitas and Chris Lewis, no wondered we always got battered.
In 2006, Australian opener Justin Langer, was struck on the head in his 100th Test from a bouncer from Makhaya Ntini and hospitalised. In 2008 West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul was knocked out for several minutes after being hit by a bouncer from Australian fast bowler Brett Lee during a test match. Shoaib Akhtar was a regular offender; he injured both Gary Kirsten (2003) and Brian Lara (2004) with fast bouncers. Both batsmen had to be taken off the field.
Having said that it is relatively rare but it could potentially be more of an issue at the upper end of Club cricket. For example, the Premier Division of the Kent League is littered with past and current county and even International cricketers. In the main these aren't the real speed merchants but there are exceptions to this.
For example, last season Tymal Mills, who only a matter of 12 months earlier was "roughing up" England's Test batsmen, turned out for Blackheath C C on his way back from injury. The opportunities for him to steam in at full pelt were limited but the fact is that this is a guy capable of bowling at 90 mph and whilst there should be players in every side at that level capable of avoiding his bouncer, there will equally be some who simply aren't capable of doing so.
Having said that, the likes of Michael Holding cut his teeth in the Lancashire League so I suppose batsmen will always find a way of avoiding getting hurt at that level - even if it means a less than gracious walk back to the pavilion having been "cleaned up".
It was a freak accident and nothing to do with modern bowling, balls or pitches. The intensity of fast bowling in cricket at this moment is as low as it has been for decades.
Would agree with that 100%.
Why bother bowling ultra fast when all the dough is in 20/20 and you just need to be able to bowl slow bouncers and cutters and keep the runs below 7 an over?
agree with both ,as sympathetic as i am with PH ,we all just hope to God that he recovers ...its a risk we all take when playing the sport of our choice be it professionally or as a amateur ..
RIP, terrible, shocking thing to happen. Couldn't have hit him in a worse place at the back of the head near the brain stem. Poor bloke didn't stand much of a chance. Thankfully he blacked out quickly and didn't suffer. Poor family.
Terrible news, at times like this one you feel the pain as if you actually knew them personally.
Cricketers are never given the credit for the bravery it requires to face a hostile bowler, often playing through injuries that would stop other sportsmen.
I was wondering that. Either way, Sean Abbott (who my heart goes out to as well) will never bowel another ball like that again and you would imagine he would struggle to bowel any ball again.
It won't be the end of the bouncer for a number of reasons. This was a freak accident, the delivery is part and parcel of the game but, most of all, batsmen are trained to play the ball. If you stop practicing against it because it is illegal you won't know what to do when, inevitably, a bowler bowls it by mistake.
Comments
On that basis should they not have issued a "recall" on the basis that it clearly wasn't fit for purpose?
Having said that it is relatively rare but it could potentially be more of an issue at the upper end of Club cricket. For example, the Premier Division of the Kent League is littered with past and current county and even International cricketers. In the main these aren't the real speed merchants but there are exceptions to this.
For example, last season Tymal Mills, who only a matter of 12 months earlier was "roughing up" England's Test batsmen, turned out for Blackheath C C on his way back from injury. The opportunities for him to steam in at full pelt were limited but the fact is that this is a guy capable of bowling at 90 mph and whilst there should be players in every side at that level capable of avoiding his bouncer, there will equally be some who simply aren't capable of doing so.
Having said that, the likes of Michael Holding cut his teeth in the Lancashire League so I suppose batsmen will always find a way of avoiding getting hurt at that level - even if it means a less than gracious walk back to the pavilion having been "cleaned up".
Why bother bowling ultra fast when all the dough is in 20/20 and you just need to be able to bowl slow bouncers and cutters and keep the runs below 7 an over?
RIP
A sad sad day for sport.
Cricketers are never given the credit for the bravery it requires to face a hostile bowler, often playing through injuries that would stop other sportsmen.
RIP.
RIP Phil Hughes.
Perhaps that might be the end of the bouncer.