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2014/18: Risks in cricket: should bouncers be banned?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right:On November 27, 2014, Tomo News US telecast a report on the death of Australian cricketer, Phillip Hughes. The telecast includes a CGI explanation on the cause of Hughes’s death. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.
What they said...
'Bouncers are purely intimidatory stuff, and intimidation has no role in cricket because this sport, unlike some others, was never meant to be a gladiatorial contest'
Vaibhav Purandare writing for 'The Times of India'
'Removing it completely would take one of the best parts of cricket out of the game, which wouldn't sit too well with fans as well as veterans of the game...'
Jack de Menezes writing for 'The Independent'
The issue at a glance
On November 25, 2014, Australian Test and One Day International cricketer, Phillip Hughes, was hit in the neck by a bouncer, during a Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, causing a vertebral artery dissection that led to a subarachnoid haemorrhage.
Hughes was taken to St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, where he underwent surgery, was placed into an induced coma and was in intensive care in a critical condition. He died on November 27, 2014, having never regained consciousness, three days before his 26th birthday.
Hughes's death resulting from an on-field injury caused a world-wide expression of grief within the cricket community and has led some commentators to call for bouncers to be banned to increase batsmen's safety. Other cricket authorities have argued that this would be an over-reaction which would harm the game.