Add Category
Updated
Does anyone know how to feel about a fiery spell of short-pitched Test bowling anymore?
When the Perth Stadium deck broke down last month and become an unpredictable pitch of vipers for the Australian tail-enders, there seemed to be a split in the cricket-viewing public's opinion on the matter.
It was undeniably dangerous but some were saying it was a thrilling contest between bat and ball, some were saying it was so unsafe that Australia should declare to protect its bowlers, and others were saying a combination of both.
The International Cricket Council was also on the fence, rating the pitch average — the lowest possible pass mark.
That rating drew the ire of a few legends of the game, including former fast bowler Mitchell Johnson.
Years earlier Johnson admitted he struggled with his desire to bowl bouncers in the wake of the death of Phillip Hughes.
"I had that (2013/14) Ashes series where I was really aggressive and bowling a lot of short balls and I did hit players," he said after his retirement in November 2015 — just under a year after Hughes's death.
"And it made me think, was I doing the right thing? Was I playing in the spirit of the game?"
The cognitive dissonance reading Johnson's remarks years apart sums up Australian cricket's complicated relationship with the bouncer, which was writ large on day three at Manuka Oval as Kusal Perera was shaken up by a couple of bouncers, one of which cannoned into his helmet, sending his neck guard flying off.
He was assessed, allowed to play on, called for the doctor again, allowed to continue again, then stood at the non-striker's end for three deliveries before calling for the doctor and eventually leaving the field.
In the meantime, Australia captain Tim Paine stacked the leg side, adding a fifth fielder to the already-prominent leg-side field, pre-empting a period of play that featured plenty of short-pitched bowling by Jhye Richardson and Mitchell Starc.
For the rest of the innings, the seamers almost always had those five fielders in place — always with a short leg, deep fine leg and deep square leg, and sometimes a leg gully, in place — making it clear the short stuff would keep coming.
All this came after the second day's play, during which Dimuth Karunaratne was hit in the neck by a Pat Cummins bouncer and had to be stretchered off the field and taken to hospital in an ambulance.
This generation of players and audiences, particularly in Australia, will think of Hughes every time a batsman looks out of sorts against the short ball, someone is hit, or a neck guard — introduced after Hughes's death — goes flying.
That goes triple for the players like Starc, Nathan Lyon and Travis Head, who were at the Sydney Cricket Ground on that infamous day in November, 2014.
It is not faux concern when bowlers check on a fallen or rattled batsman, and Kurtis Patterson said as much after the Karunaratne incident.
"It's never nice. You never like seeing that," he said.
"All of us were in a little bit of shock but I think everyone's OK, which is good."
It's a legitimate form of dismissal, but unlike others, it relies at least partially on a batsman's fear of getting hurt.
Making the issue more prominent is the Sri Lankan batsmen's tendency to get out to short balls.
Shortly after Karunaratne retired hurt on day two, Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal was caught behind after awkwardly gloving a Starc bouncer that was sailing over his head. Day three saw Perera also retire hurt and then Dhananjaya de Silva swinging so wildly at a bouncer that his bat carried on to hit the bails.
Regardless how you feel about them, as long as bouncers get wickets, bowlers will keep bowling them. When a batsman gets hit, the opposition will check on them. When the doctors are required, bowlers will be rattled. When a subcontinental team comes to Australia, they'll be peppered.
Like the LBW rule or so many other things in cricket, it can be confusing to new-comers, but it's just the way it is.
Topics: cricket, sport, canberra-2600, act, australia
First posted