Will batsmen still want to play it? Will the emphasis shift to the batsman protecting his neck, and maybe throat, and not his head (leaving that job to the helmet). It would seem that the best way to protect those areas is to keep facing the ball while your head draws in and your shoulders hunch up.
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The hook shot.
Nothing will change. Bowler will bowl bouncers, batsman will hook.
_r
In reply to Admin
It would be interesting to ascertain if more players get hit these days since the advent of the helmet and body protection.
Helmets give a false sense of security to the batsmen.
I am not suggesting that batsmen didn't get hit before but when we played without all of this protection we learnt to be nimble and fast on our feet.
In reply to bobby
Yes more players get hit on helmet due to feeling of protection and willingness to go for shots.
In reply to Runs
Only guys that play before helmets will say that, youngsters these days, can only relate to the various protection.
Cricket was always a dangerous sport, when helmets were introduce, you bough it because it was part of the gear, and a fashion statement.
In reply to bobby
Do you have any data to prove that?
Player today grew up with helmets, they don't know what it is like, batting without a helmet.
In reply to openning
Dude it is true in the days before fellas batted more technically as in making sure head was out of the way when playing the hook shot. Today they hook balls in front of face.
In reply to Runs
It is the coaching, not the helmet.
Protective gear is what all youngsters know about, it is difficult to compare Viv with a helmet and a young Viv that that always wore a helmet.
Shiv maybe the best person to comment on this topic, because he may have grown up in Guyana without a helmet, and started wearing one, when it was mandatory
In reply to Kurt
People don't stop driving cars when someone gets killed in accident, even though they may come at you at 90 mph!
bouncers and the hook shot is about the best in the game
Techniques have changed, the previous generations batsmen played more back and across which gave you a little more time to see the ball and decide whether to hook or not. Today more batsmen forward press which cuts down on the time that they have to play the hook and because their weight is pressing forward gets them into difficult situations against the faster bowlers.
In reply to Larr Pullo
Quite right, when I as a modern day youth watch guys like Richie richardson, Greg chappell etc hook, the ball was way inside their body line, head out the way and swivel round on it. Once the fear of getting hit is out the equation, you even execute the shot much better. Shiv Chanderpaul still pulls in this fashion, body out the way. Sometimes you don't always get out the way.
Nonetheless, cricket will go on, bouncers will still be used, batsmen will still hook and pull. At most, you may just see manufacturers start making neck paddings.
Bowlers will be less inclined to target the body, to merely intimidate.
The game will not forget Phil Hughes in a hurry. I don't think any active Test player, so young, has ever been lost to the bouncer before.
In reply to Runs
That's an excellent observation. It should be obvious that once you're completely inside the line of the ball, you won't normally be hit even if you miss the ball. Nothing is risk free though, as the ball can jag back in or a top edge can still propel it toward your face.
You see many batsmen instinctively arch their back while snapping their head back as the short ball whistles by (sniffing the leather), but the danger with that approach is that it exposes the throat. Dropping the body by bending the legs while continuing to look straight down the pitch, and letting the ball go over the head is another option. That way the batsman risks being hit if the ball doesn't bounce as much as expected. However, at least with that approach, even if you get hit it will be in the arm or the helmet and not in the unprotected areas of throat or neck.
Good scoring shot to get on the mark on.
In reply to Admin
EXACTLY! This is not the first time someone has been hit hard, some excellent Bajan batsmen been hit some right in front of me!
The secret is keeping your EYES locked on the ball! Then swaying away or ducking if you must at the very last millisecond.
Batting bouncers has changed because batsmen think they are safe with a helmet!
In reply to doosra
It is a very dangerous and of questionable productivity. Great when it works though. I have got many wickets suckering into hooking.
Sars is a good batsmen but has been suckered into getting out on far too many occasions.
It will change the game.
This was an International Test batsman with multiple tons to his name.
Batsman will still hook but not as often as they do currently.
And I wouldn't doubt that some of them might see their life flash infront their eyes as they are about to hook.
I read an article some years ago about 'Cement Head Roy Fredricks". And I'm ambivalent about whether this is the right time to regurgitate it because of Philip's tragic accident.
I feel for Phillip and his family but I also feel obligated to make a comparison with Freddo the un-helmeted hooker.
Are helmets the problem because they give a false sense of insecurity and thereby limit dancing skills ? Or was Freddo lucky he did not cop one in the neck?
That did not change. He eschewed helmets, and once during World Series Cricket responded to being hit on the head by Len Pascoe with a contemptuous V-sign. He scorned chest protection; his sleeves, always buttoned to the wrist, were bare of guards. But it steadily became a kind of proclamation: Fredericks intent not on taking punishment but on dishing it out, usually in company with his like-minded protégé Gordon Greenidge.
Full Article on Freddo
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