Right: Bowler Sean Abbott, whose bouncer caused the death of Philip Hughes, was reluctant to continue his career, despite no blame being attached to him.
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Background information
(The information found immediately below is a slightly abbreviated version of the Wikipedia entry titled 'Bouncer [cricket)' and the Wikipedia entry on 'Bodyline'.
The full text can be accessed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouncer_%28cricket%29 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouncer_%28cricket%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodyline)
The bouncer in cricket
In the sport of cricket, a bouncer (or bumper) is a type of delivery, usually bowled by a fast bowler. It is pitched short so that it bounces on the pitch well short of the batsman and rears up to chest or head height (or even higher) as it reaches the batsman
Usage
Bouncers are used tactically to drive the batsman back on to his back foot if he has been freely playing front foot scoring shots, such as drives. To this end, bouncers are usually directed more or less at the line of the batsman's body. Aiming at the batsman is not illegal provided the ball bounces on the pitch, or without bouncing on the pitch as long as the ball upon reaching the batsman is below waist height, and is a tactically important part of the game. Aiming at the batsman's head without bouncing on the pitch, known as a beamer, is illegal.
A batsman may play a bouncer in either a defensive or an attacking way. If the batsman plays it defensively he aims primarily to avoid getting out, and secondarily to avoid being hit by the ball. For a head-high bouncer, these goals are achieved most easily by ducking under the ball. If the ball is at chest height, the batsman's best defence is to move on to his back foot, raise his bat vertically to chest height, and attempt to block the ball and direct it downwards to the pitch so as to avoid presenting a catch to a fielder. Sometimes the batsman will need to jump into the air to gain the necessary height to defend with the bat. He may also sway out of the way. Given these approaches, the bowler can hope to both intimidate the batsman somewhat, and possibly have the ball deflect off the bat at an awkward angle and produce a catch for a nearby fielder.
Conversely, the bouncer can be a very productive ball for the batsman, if he plays it in an attacking manner. The shot that is used to attack the bouncer is the hook shot. To play the hook shot the batsman moves his back foot backwards and towards the off side as the ball is being delivered. As the ball approaches, the batsman swivels from facing the off side to facing the leg side, while holding the bat horizontally. The batsman's aim is to hit the ball at high speed towards, into or over the leg side boundary. However, despite their run-scoring potential, hook shots frequently lead to wickets falling, particularly through balls hitting the top edge of the bat and being caught by leg side fielders. However, if the bouncer is misdirected by the bowler, and reaches the batsman on the off side of his wicket, the cut, uppercut or late cut can be played, either with the intention of guiding the ball along the ground, through a gap in the field setting, or over the infield for four or six.
International Cricket Council (ICC) rules
Because of the potential danger to batsmen of being hit and to stop bowlers bowling bouncers all the time, there are laws in the Laws of Cricket governing how frequently a bowler may bowl bouncers, as well as how many fielders may field backward of square leg. These laws take into account the relative skill of the batsmen.
During the 1970s to 1980s, bouncers were used as part of a team's intimidatory tactics, especially by the West Indies team. In 1991, the International Cricket Council (ICC) introduced a "one bouncer per batsman per over" rule in an attempt to discourage use of intimidation. However, the ruling was not well received by players and umpires alike, with English umpire Dickie Bird describing it as "farcical" as he felt that calling intimidatory tactics should be left to the umpire. The ICC changed it to two bouncers per over in 1994, with a two-run no-ball penalty (rather than one-run no-ball) if the bowler exceeded two bouncers an over. The ICC reverted again to one bouncer per over in 2001 (and a one-run no-ball in case a bowler exceeded the limit).
On October 29, 2012 the ICC increased the number of bouncers that could be bowled during a One Day International to two. The number of bouncers per over allowed in T20s was kept to one.
Bouncers in cricket history - Bodyline
Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932-33 Ashes tour of Australia, specifically to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's Don Bradman.
A bodyline delivery was one where the cricket ball was bowled towards the body of the batsman on the line of the leg stump, in the hope of creating leg-side deflections that could be caught by one of several fielders in the quadrant of the field behind square leg. This was considered by many to be intimidatory and physically threatening, to the point of being unfair in a game once supposed to have gentlemanly traditions, but commercialisation of the game had subsequently tended to elevate the principle of "win at all costs" above traditional ideals of sportsmanship.
Although no serious injuries arose from any short-pitched deliveries while a leg theory field was set, the tactic still led to considerable ill feeling between the two teams, with the controversy eventually spilling into the diplomatic arena.
Over the next two decades, several of the Laws of Cricket were changed to prevent this tactic being repeated. Law 41.5 states 'At the instant of the bowler's delivery there shall not be more than two fielders, other than the wicket-keeper, behind the popping crease on the on side,' commonly referred to as being 'behind square leg'. Additionally, Law 42.6(a) includes: 'The bowling of fast short pitched balls [bouncers] is dangerous and unfair if the umpire at the bowler's end considers that by their repetition and taking into account their length, height and direction they are likely to inflict physical injury on the striker'. Further, as already noted, there are now laws that limit the number of bouncers that can be bowled per over.