I am 25 now and ever since I can remember the time immemorial , I’ve been a Cricket nut. Batting has always been my favorite but Bowling part is not without its attractions. Especially the good old “the Bouncer”.
A bouncer is a fast ball that is aimed at batsman’s chest and above portions of the body preferably the skull.
Historically it has been the most destructive weapon of the legendary pace bowlers of the past. It was used to fearsome perfection by giants bowling machines of West Indies and other great pacemen like Lillee , Thomson, Botham etc. Batsmen had to face these bowlers with a knowledge that any mistimed shot and they may end up in a Hospital. Micheal Holding , quarter of the West Indies bowling lineup of the 80’s was known as “ whispering death” and why he shouldn’t be . Imagine a smallish round object weighing around 200gms coming at a speed of 150-160 km/hr straight at your skull (sounds more guided missile to me ). Going by my ability at batting I will end up with multiple stitches (or serious brain damage) before I am even able to lift the Bat.
Watching Batsman avoiding the bouncer is also a great sight to watch. Ducking , stretching, hopping and doing all kinds of acrobatics to avoid contact with one nasty ball. Even though, because of helmets chances of serious injury are much less now, these beauties are still used as pscylogical weapon by pacemen to intimidate opposite batsmen. And injuries still happen. In the 2005 Ashes the towering English paceman Steve Harmison started the first test with a bouncer which rattled Aussie opener Mathew Hayden’s helmet and then injured the opposite Captain Ricky Ponting by a similar delivery which resulted nasty bruise and bleeding from his face. Those two balls probably set the tone for the unforgettable 2005 Ashes series.
Closer home us, the Indians are not very adept at playing short balls, Dravid’s an exception, and hence our batsmen are peppered with chest high bouncers when on tour to countries with fast pitches. In 1994 during West Indies tour of India during one Test Ambrose and Walsh terrorized Indian batsmen with a flurry of short balls and bouncers causing injuries to several batsmen. India lost that test. I don’t remember when and where that test was staged but I do remember that I was close to tears. Speaking of other awkward incidents involving Bouncers, Sachin Tendulkar, once on Australian tour was bowled a quite short pitched delivery by Glenn McGrath and he anticipating a bouncer completely tried to duck the high rising ball. But amusingly the ball did not bounce at all and struck Tendulkar on his shoulder who was crouching in front of wicket. Upon appeal, Umpire adjuged him Out “Shoulder before wicket”.
In the recent times Bouncers have lost a bit of charm because of helmets and more importantly to the increased use of Yorker balls which are completely opposite because they target toes of the batsmen. That may be because of the fact the Yorkers are more useful in taking the wickets which has been proved by phenomenal success of the greatest proponents of the art of Yorkers – the Waquar – Akram duo of Pakistan and more recently of Dale Steyn and Umar Gul. Another fact has also not helped and that is limiting the number of bouncers to 2 per over in Tests and 1 in ODI’s and T20’s. But no one can deny that nothing can match the “Awe” factor of a perfect bouncer and I hope these deliveries keep on continuing to enthrall the Cricket fans for generations to come….
