Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeUncategorizedBouncers here to stay despite Phil Hughes tragedy

Bouncers here to stay despite Phil Hughes tragedy

- Advertisement -

On the opening day of the last Ashes series, Mitchell Johnson set the tone for five matches of Australian domination by sending a series of 150km per hour missiles whistling past the ears of a succession of English batsmen.

Australians packed into the Gabba and watching on television around the country cheered every near miss, every jerky swerve of an Englishman`s head and every desperate attempt by a tourist to fend off the assault with his bat.

Johnson was named ICC Cricketer of the Year for his efforts and despite the death of his former team mate Phillip Hughes, the likelihood is he will unleash a similar barrage on India should the first test go ahead at the same ground next week.

The short ball or bouncer, which rears up from the pitch towards the batsman`s head, has become as much part of modern cricket as the tea break.

The bouncer is designed to “soften up” the batsman by making him more concerned about his own safety than that of the wickets he is defending, or to panic him into a misjudged shot that will get him caught out.

“It`s part of the game,” West Indies great Brian Lara, one of the game`s best ever batsmen, said this week.

“I think they`ve done their best over the years to curb it and manage it as best as possible. But it`s part of a fast bowlers armoury and it`s very hard to take that totally away from them.

“There are some batsmen who feed on that sort of attack and I don`t really believe it`s anything that should effect fast bowlers and the rules governing that.”

- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

Latest

Must Read

- Advertisement -

Related News