The death of Phillip Hughes, shocking and tragic as it was, was freakish and as per the doctor who treated him, only 100 people have died of this condition in medical history and such a condition was created only for the second time by the impact of a cricket ball. Hughes was undoubtedly ill fated considering how so many sportsmen survive body blows caused from such incidents as formula one crashes and the hammering which for example a professional boxer takes to his head. One of the obvious outcomes of this mishap will undoubtedly be a further improvement in protective gear for batsmen (and for close in fielders). However, I do hope that the incident will prompt modern cricketers to look at their technique when it comes to dealing with head high deliveries. It is obvious that the helmet has given modern day players a false sense of security and that has made them ignore the need to learn and practice how to correctly avoid a fast, short, chest/head high delivery ( although Hughes was hit playing a shot and not trying to leave the ball). Far fewer cricketers were hit on their heads in the 100 years that international players batted without helmets than in the 30 odd years since helmets have become a regular item in a batsman’s kit. This was mainly for two reasons, firstly, cricket being the so called gentleman’s game, bowlers did not bowl bouncers at bowlers since they were not expected to have the technique to cope and, secondly, the batsmen who received the bouncers had the necessary technique and reflexes to deal with them. We didn’t read of early greats such as Grace or Ranji or Trumper getting hit on their heads. In fact, once when Ranji’s servant told him that someone known to Ranji had been hit by a cricket ball, a surprised Ranji asked “why, did he not have a bat in his hand”? We didnt hear or read of greats such as Bradman or Sobers getting hit on their heads and when we were growing up, contemporary greats like Viv Richards, Gavaskar, Chappell, Boycott or Majid Khan for example never seemed to be getting hit on their heads either. If getting hit on the head was considered a genuine risk for batsmen, helmets should have come into cricket right after the Bodyline series but they did so nearly 50 years after that, which indicates that while Bodyline was itself a bit of an aberration, batsmen were overall expected to be able to take care of the rising ball. However, sadly, today’s batsmen seem to be getting hit on their heads rather frequently and I have actually seen modern greats like Tendulkar and Ponting actually being saved from grievous injury by a helmet. And, finally, when I see modern T20 cricketers getting down on their knees to try and scoop deliveries over the wicket keeper’s head, I find it absolutely maddening. Now, with all that protective gear including helmets and chest guards, such a shot looks audacious but if ever a batsman of yesteryears who was not so well protected tried such a shot, it would have been considered foolhardy or even suicidal. Farewell Phillip Hughes and RIP, very sad for you, but your death may actually help to produce more technically proficient cricketers, in addition to more efficient protective gear.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 06:44:37 +0000
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