Inside Sport

Its bodyline and its wrong


https://forum.insidesport.com.au/Topic2865574.aspx

By grazorblade - 27 Dec 2019 5:12 AM

"Get ready for a broken ^%& arm" there was a reason that comment disgusted everyone and went viral. True, there were probably plenty that weren't disgusted but thats beside the point!

Every express bowler has talked up their intimidation - from the windies of the 80s to Mitch Johnson and Jeff thompson. We could list many more. But lets call a spade a spade, its not just the a few short balls against a 6-3 offside field and some inappropriate bloodthristy comments like many pace bowlers dish out. Not only does Wagner bowl about 40% of his deliveries at the body, within some spells that number spikes for a sustained period of time against a 6-3 legside field. The field setting make it much more likely that the player allows themselves to get hit rather than risk a shot

At the moment its just Wagner, but what happens if this anti-cricket tactic spreads? Or worse, if it spreads to lower grades where techniques are worse and injury will be more likely. People have brought up his pedestrian pace, but 135-140kph is what 10% less speed than the quickest in the world. Glen mcgrath broke Kevin Peitersons ribs at that speed and Abbott is hardly express and killed a player. There really isn't much difference in terms of force. The much more likely risk is the concussions. A couple of concussions over a career and you probably laugh about it over a beer at the end of your career over how scary some bowler was. Concussions have a cumulative effect over a career, and if the number you sustain climbs, there will be serious long term health damage. Once you have enough concussions you end your career regretting you ever played. The current tactics employed by bowlers world wide delegates concussions to be rare and deaths to be confined to the freak accident category - about as common as a car crash on the way to cricket training.

An employee that risks their long term health to perform better at their job is heroic and a dream employee. Every player for every country fits that mould of heroic dream employee and we rightly respect the guts and determination of players that are willing to get hit rather than lose their wicket. However, an employer that takes advantage of that without making reasonable accommodations to make the job as safe as possible is exploitative. Cricket Australia are not their only employers, we paying fans are in a way also their employers and we are exploitative if we don't call it out. Any former union members on the forum?

Besides, who else can call this out? As I mentioned cricket has a machismo culture so all the pressure is to pretend that the tactic is fine lest you come across as scared or a whinger. Australia has the additional problem of being recently caught at cheating and would be wary of being accused of hypocrisy if they called this out. Of course cheating to win is not the same as cheating to hurt. It is, after all, just a game but the people out there will have 40-50 years left of their lives to live with any health problems they acquire from the game. It needs to be called out for the anti-cricket it is before we start seeing this nonsense at the under 17 level
By Decentric - 13 Jan 2020 2:54 PM

Lastbroadcast - 13 Jan 2020 1:02 AM
There was absolutely nothing wrong with Wagner's tactics. Every over he bowled two bouncers, two full ones outside off, and then two at the ribs. That's not illegal and it's not bodyline. That's just trying to get him to top edge one to fine leg. There's nothing wrong with that tactic, the West Indies did it all the time in the 80s. Every time they found a batsman was compulsively playing the hook shot, they'd bowl some short stuff from round the wicket and see if they'd bite. 

Bodyline was every single bowler hurling down six fast deliveries an over (or rather eight in those days) from round the wicket at the armpit or head, with five-seven fielders on the leg side, including several behind square. At every batsman. Plus - no helmets or chest pads. The only way any batsman could score a run was to hook it for six, and if he missed it he would have ended up in hospital with concussion. That's why it was banned - it provided the batsman with absolutely no opportunity to score runs and it was dangerous to safety. 

Smith never had more than two fielders behind square leg. At worst, he had a fine leg, a leg gully, a man standing just in front of square leg, and a silly mid on. He could have waited out the two bounders, let the two armpit balls go, and then scored off the other two fuller deliveries. Or, it he had a better technique, he could have found the boundary regularly.  If Ricky Ponting had been facing that stuff he would have dispatched most of it to the fence in front of square. 

You might notice that they didn't try the tactic to most other batsmen. They never tried it to Burns, or Labuschagne, because they both play the pull shot well. They also used it sparingly to Head, Warner and Paine. But they confused the hell out of Wade. 

For Smith, it's a technical weakness - he struggles to keep the pull shot down to left arm bowlers (or right armers from round the wicket). He's always looking to walk across to the off side to play that front foot flick through leg, so his bat starts low. When the bowler bowls it short, he has to bring the bat upwards from low down, almost guaranteeing he'll hit it in the air. Four times he hit one to backward square leg - and none of them were unplayable balls. 

It's a technical weakness and Wagner found it. 





I thought Smith also looked half way between back and front foot when he hooked or pulled in this series. 

The shot looked awkward.