 |
| Stuart Broad |
The sickening blow suffered by Steve Smith during the second Ashes Test against England has reignited the debate around safety in the game.
Copyright Steve Haag Sport Hollywoodbets
Cricket’s image as the gentleman’s game belies the inherent danger of a sport where a ball as hard as a rock is propelled at high speed towards a batsman.
When the sport was first codified and firmly established its laws there was little protection for batsmen, but the early days of the game were dominated by slow bowlers.
As fast bowlers became more commonplace, and cricketing rivalries less friendly, it soon became clear that batsmen needed greater protection.
The infamous bodyline series, where England fast bowlers used ‘leg theory’ to neutralize Don Bradman and company, prompted a change to the laws of the game.
Cricket has since opted to revise its rules several times over in a bid to boost safety.
Helmets and additional safety gear were introduced through the 1970’s and 1980’s and are now considered mandatory when facing any bowler quicker than military medium.
Advances have been made in helmet technology, most recently the development of something called a stem-guard. The stem-guard was designed to protect the base of the skull and neck which the helmet leaves exposed. Smith did not have a stem guard on his helmet despite it being recommended by Cricket Australia in the wake of the death of Phil Hughes in 2014.
Smith doesn’t use the guard because he finds them uncomfortable and irritating. That is all very well, but batsmen previously used the same rationale to reject helmets and other protective equipment.
Neck guards are likely to become mandatory, at least in Australia, after this latest incident but there is still plenty of resistance to them.
Some have called for cricket to change the object that causes almost all cricketing deaths, the ball. Most lovers of the game will baulk at this suggestion.
A softer ball would make the game much safer, yes, but it would fundamentally change the way the game is played. The weight and composition of the ball is what makes it move and behave the way a cricket ball does. Anyone who has played with a softer ball knows that it just isn’t cricket.
The other suggestion is to ban the bouncer. The bouncer is a big part of Test cricket and is one of the ways bowlers keep the dominance of the bat in check. Removing the bouncer will diminish the spectacle of Test cricket. Cricket doesn’t need to be unsafe to be entertaining but it does need to retain the essence of what makes the game great.
Facing a fearsome fast bowler and coming out unscathed is something any batsman can savour be it at schoolboy or Test level.
Cricket definitely needs to get better in its approach to head injuries. They have been part of the game since the proliferation of fast bowling and before and there is no reason the game should lag in this area.
The game of cricket can be made safer but in some cases, the measures proposed would rob the game of all of its charm.
Written by James Richardson for Hollywoodbets
