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| Sunday, 16 January 2005 |
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Cricket, the 'killer' sport by A. C. de Silva Cricket is a sport loved and cherished by thousands of players and fans alike throughout the world, but in Britain where the game had its origin, it has been disclosed around 50 years ago that cricket was the top 'killer' in sport. This remarkable revelation was made by none other than Lord Newton in the House of Lords around 40 years ago. On that occasion Lord Newton was reporting on 50 deaths of men and boys in sporting accidents in a four-year spell from 1955 to 1958. Sports fans will be somewhat curious to know only one of these deaths occurred in boxing. Nine were caused by rugby football, 13 by soccer and 14 by cricket. Of the cricket total, all but one were due to head injuries. It would be even more interesting to know how these head injuries were caused. It seems more than probable that the vast majority of them were inflicted by bowlers using bumpers or 'body-line' deliveries. Common sense rules out the possibility - except in very rare cases - of the victims getting in the way of a ball struck by the bat or of a ball thrown by a fielder. It will be recalled that one Australian Test fielder tried to 'menace' former England cricketer, Colin Cowdrey by standing a few feet from the bat while the England and Kent cricketer was at the crease. Cowdrey's reply to this was to hit the ball directly at the fielder, a gambit which had such dramatic results that thereafter all fielders stood at a distance calculated to give them sufficient time to take safeguarding action should the ball come in their direction. A fielder who stands too close to the batsman is, as they say, asking for it; a batsman who receives a bumper is not. The bumper is a weapon of intimidation delivered with the intention of making the batsman nervous, tearing his confidence in himself to shreds and consequently retarding his skill. In this respect it cannot be justified for it goes beyond the bounds of gamesmanship to the precarious perimeter of wilfully causing injury to the batsman. It is demonstrably unfair for it is not aimed at knocking down the stumps or attempting the batsman into making a reckless stroke and offering a catch. It is aimed at the batsman's head or upper part of the body, an area he does not normally have to protect with his bat. It is a predatory practice which is against the ethics of cricket. Though they certainly did not first introduce the bumper, West Indian bowlers of some years gone by have shown the cricketing world that they employed this method. The amazing feature about this practice is that the West Indies are such excellent cricketers and such outstanding sportsmen that there in no need for some of them to resort to bumpers to win matches. It is on record that a Lancashire League match at the end of the 1959 season where the skipper of Oldham in the match against Middleton, walked off the field with his team to "save them from further injury". Middleton's professional bowler was the West Indian Roy Gilchrist. The Oldham skipper did this because his star batsman, Frank Lyneux, had retired hurt after being hit on the shoulder, a 15-year-old schoolboy David Booth had been hit in the stomach and felled, and a third batsman also injured. And only five of the team had batted! What puzzled everyone was the fact that even before that match had begun Middleton, thanks to Gilchrist's skill as a cricketer, had already won the championship and the result of this game would have made no difference to their position in the table. That same winter the MCC toured the West Indies under Colin Cowdrey and the tourists were reduced to wearing bumper-proof vests when facing Hall and Watson. Both these fast bowlers were warned under Law 46 by the umpires on the second day of the second Test at Trinidad. Law 46 says: Before and during a match the umpires shall ensure that the conduct of the game and the implements used are strictly in accordance with the laws; they are the sole judges of fair and unfair play, and the final judges of the fitness of the ground, the weather and the light for play in the event of the decision being left to them, and if they disagree, the actual state of things shall continue. The umpires shall change ends after each side has had one innings. The verdict of Walter Robbins, Manager of the MCC side on that occasion, was: "I think they (bumpers) have been overdone by both sides though mostly by the West Indies." After the late fifties, there have been several instances of 'bumpers' felling batsmen and now the panel of Test cricket umpires of the International Cricket Council are going on the correct path in limiting the number of bouncers in an over. It is a step in the right direction in making cricket a safer sport these days. |
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