Cairns gives bouncers thumbs up
New Zealand cricket great Lance Cairns has belted talk of bouncer bans out of the park even though his skull was fractured by one, saying no one calls for cars to be banned when there are road fatalities.
Batting against Pakistan at Carisbrook in 1985, the big-hitting medium pacer was felled by a Wasim Akram bouncer. Knocked out, he had to be helped from the field. X-rays revealed a hairline fracture to his skull.
Debate around the bouncer reared up sharply again this week, when Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim ducked into a Tim Southee delivery, collapsed in agony, and was prone on the pitch for nearly 15 minutes as medical staff treated him.
He was later diagnosed with mild concussion, but his injury came with memories still fresh of Australian test opener Phil Hughes being killed by a shortpitched ball in 2014.
But Cairns, 67, said shortpitched deliveries were part of a bowler’s armoury and they must be allowed to use them, within the laws.
‘‘Millions’’ of short-pitched deliveries had been bowled since the infamous ‘‘Bodyline’’ series between England and Australia in the 1930s, when England used the tactic to contain the legendary Don Bradman, he said.
‘‘When you think about ... the number of deaths caused by this delivery, Hughes’ tragic ending is the only one I’ve ever heard of,’’ he said.
‘‘Do you hear people wanting to ban the use of cars, motorbikes, bikes because of fatalities - no you don’t - but lessons must be learnt from these tragedies, and this is why they’ve got tougher on the design of the helmet.’’
From February 1, the International Cricket Council will apply sanctions to batsmen who wear helmets that do not met its safety standards.
Cairns wished he’d worn a helmet when he faced Pakistan speedster Akram, then a teenager playing his second test.
He took five wickets in each innings, and went on to claim 414 test wickets.
‘‘I didn’t realise at the time that I received the bouncer from Akram that I had been knocked out, it was only after viewing the TV footage that realised what had happened,’’ Cairns said.
Lower order batsmen had a ‘‘macho thing’’ that helmets were for more delicate top order players, he said.
‘‘But, once again, after viewing the footage, I thought what an idiot Brendan Bracewell was for going into bat to replace me and not wearing a helmet.’’
After Carisbrook, Cairns wore a helmet, but he still he didn’t alter his approach, or practise more against short-pitched bowling.
He recalled that teams used to agree which batsmen could be bounced, a view that could be altered by the fielding captain, should a tailender hang around for an annoyingly long time.
In one such case, Cairns got a visit from the England captain when he had held out for nearing an hour, fighting with Jeremy Coney to save the first test at the Basin Reserve in 1984.
‘‘(He) came up to me and said in his posh English accent `Lance you’ve been batting for some time now so we think it’s only fair that we will now bowl some bouncers at you’. As it turned out I handled them quite comfortably and we got the draw.’’
Cairns scored 64, his best test innings while Coney made 174 not out, in a match-saving partnership of 118 for the ninth wicket.
Cairns was watching when Mushfiqur was hurt.
‘‘Quite honestly, I thought it was bad technique. The ball wasn’ t that much over stump height and for him to be ducking it was poor judgment,’’ he said.
‘‘If you are going to have a lengthy career you must have a technique that can handle whatever is thrown at you.
‘‘If the career is a short one it’s almost always because the player has weaknesses in his game, and one of these is that they don’t get to grips with short-pitched bowling
‘‘To get to the top in any chosen field you have to be able to adjust to whatever comes at you, this is why I don’t think anything should change about short-pitched bowling; it’s part of the bowler’s armoury and he must be allowed to use it within the laws.’’