The death of Phillip Hughes and the dilemma of a fast bowler

Photo credit: PTI

To sad, too soon... accidents arrive unannounced

Phillip Hughes’ death undoubtedly rocked nations, borders and cultures.  The news produced a deep hurt among all cricket lovers, while it is extremely sad that such a promising player had been cut short in his prime.  Freakish though, as reports suggest that the hit “millimeters either side could have saved him with a mere concussion”.  The leather ball, weighing 160 grams, was travelling at 135 km speed when it left the bowler’s arm to strike “Hughes under the helmet behind the left ear”.  Some biomechanical experts say the impact is “similar to being hit by a bullet”.    

While it is sad day for the game for sure,  a section of the media and cricket fans, as expected, have kickstarted the debate if the “bouncers” (known as “bumpers” in the earlier days) should be banned.  There are cries for the bouncer to be outlawed, and on the face of it, the arguments are compelling.  But one of the reasons Hughes’ tragedy has hit home so hard is its rarity.  Bouncers are used  tactically to drive the batsman back on to his back foot if he has been freely playing his front foot shots.  To this end, they are more or less directed at the line of the batsman’s body, which is not illegal provided the ball bounces on the pitch. Aiming the batsman’s head without bouncing on the pitch is “beamer”, which is illegal.

Momentary reactions should be kept at bay

As former England captain Michael Vaughan recently said: “The bouncer is such an important part of the game.  It is a test of mental toughness.  It is designed to put the batsman off his game, upset his front foot movement and get his head in the wrong position, which is what batting is all about.  I hope that does not change”.  The essence of good batsmanship is the ability to stroke and defend, both off the front foot and the back foot.  Banning the bouncer would produce more kids and less cricketers.  A debate, nevertheless, would continue in the coming days, but it is ill-advised to make snap judgements. 

Any attempt to redefine “the bouncer” would be a major regression to the game, which is already pro-batsman (with fielding restrictions, power plays, limits on number of bouncers in an over, high quality bats ….) than it ever used to be. Again, forbidding bouncers would be ineffective, because occasionally a bowler would accidentally at least, break the rule.  Also, coming generations may not learn how to avoid being hit in the head or the rib cage …; where it would make injuries more likely, not less.  

Batsmen in the pre-helmet days relied on agility and a good eye.  All glory to those stalwarts like Don Bradman, Sunil Gavaskar, Viv Richards, Gary Sobers, G.R. Vishwanath ……  Same delivery. Some defend.  Some hits six.  Some gets out.  Some injured.  In some sports, dire risk is a constant companion.  A single punch in Boxing at the wrong place can kill.  In F1, a miscalculation can decimate in seconds. 

Mark Boucher, Stuart Broad, Raman Lamba
Photo credit: India Today

Australian duo, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, and the Caribbean pacers of the seventies and the eighties were allowed to bowl all day with barely any one, not even the umpire, took any objection.  Viv Richards underwent psychiatric treatment after being at the receiving end of Lillee and Thomson in 1975-76, while Don Bradman said it was “a wonder more batsmen were not seriously injured”.

Aussies, Proteas ….take great pride in the bouncy nature of their wickets.  This  meant that a ball that normally would need to be pitched quite short anywhere else in the world to come up to the head height, can be pitched just short of a length on most Aussie/South African pitches.  Means the ball is going to gear up at an awkward angle in Oz.  It is time some parameters are in place regarding the hardness of the pitch.  It goes the other way in India with the ball hardly going over ankle height!

The game should go on

The simple fact is Hughes’ death was the culmination of numerous factors that cluster to create the perfect storm.  Replays suggest that Hughes head had turned away from the ball as he was still playing the hook.  Had he kept his eye on the ball, at worst, the ball would have hit him on the grill, rather than on neck.  According to Kevin Pieterson, “He (Hughes) did not have a classic batting technique, but he was able to score runs his own way”.  The game of cricket tests everything of a batsman, bouncer inclusive, only then the comprehensive ability is best ascertained.  The helmet manufacturer has reportedly said that Hughes was not wearing the latest version which is far more protective.

A fast bowler would probably say that banning bouncers is akin to banning cover-drives. It is part of the game. In cricket, fielders are also prone to serious risk. Raman Lamba, Mark Boucher, Saba Karim instantly comes to mind. What one would question though is the quality of the pitches, helmet designs, player’s behavioural pattern (like sledging, verbal intimidation….) Sledging that involves threats such as Michael Clarke advising an opponent that he is about to get a broken arm should be outlawed, as it sends a wrong message to youngsters that it is okay to break some one’s arm in the name of sport.

Photo credit: Telegraph

In the modern version of the game, the batsman reverse-sweeps, scoop-hits (Dil-scoop) – and can miss and get gravely injured.  The game is played across the length and breadth of the country in grounds and gullies, with inferior gears, poor pitches and no first-aid, and one can even without bouncers, get hurt. 

If cricket is  not prepared for the funeral of a 25-year old Australian batsman, who was in the process of returning to national duty, then the process of feeling “normal” about cricket will take longer time. To sum up, in the words of Australian pacer Stuart Clark, “as a fast bowler you’ve got to intimidate. That’s part of the game.  It’s been part of the game for a long period of time now and I hope it will  always be”.  

A tiger without ferocity, a cobra lacking venom, and a fast-bowler sans bouncer is not in line with established nature.    Improving the helmet design and better coaching on how to negotiate a raising delivery are a more logical response to the tragedy.  The cricketing fraternity, in the meantime, should wholeheartedly support the cause of restoring Sean Abbott’s normalcy,ensure his return to the run-up with the new ball, and delete the dilemma of a fast bowler.

Making childhood safe for children is becoming an overwhelming task

Bangalore again. The garden city first turned to 

garbage city and now becoming infamous for 

rape city.

Image courtesy: www.exclusivenews.co.in

A three-year-old girl child in Bangalore was allegedly sexually abused at the private school she attends. "We have registered a criminal case late Tuesday (Oct.21, 2014) on a complaint by the victim's father that his young daughter was sexually abused in the Orchid International School premises," said Police Inspector TC Venkatesh. "We are checking the footage of the closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed in the school and questioning its staff and faculty," he added.

According to the police complaint filed by her father, the child "had signs of fever and complained to her mother that she was physically abused by someone she did not know or recognize."

The public anger of the Bangalore VIBGYOR High (School) rape incident reported about a couple of months ago is still lingering, while more grisly spectacles make a beeline to grab the pungent headlines. It is bad enough that the alleged rape occurred in the  campus sanctity, the accused, yet again, a staff.  Are more students being raped?  Are more rapes reported?  Has the definition of rape become diluted that more incidents being red-flagged? Is rape avoidance a feminine responsibility?  Or, are we failing collectively?

How is it that a three-year old tot was left alone for this to happen at any given point of time while at school?  Even when the child has to use the rest room she must be accompanied by a helper staff.  Someone knows the answer there.  Fortunately, the abuser cannot invoke the familiar defence that it had been consensual sex. 

While the recent beastly Delhi gang-rape is not yet fixed, more such heinous crimes are unfolding all over the country.  While the current laws and the concomitant loopholes enable abusers to escape punishment, many rape cases fail to result in rape law enforcement, thanks to the systemic inadequacies that render the criminal law ineffective in responding to and preventing such violence.  To get a conviction, current law requires prosecutors prove a suspect acted with “depraved indifference”, which is a high bar to clear, especially since most child abuse takes place in private.

A less-scrutinised explanation may be  the campus  grievance process itself  oriented towards the protection of perpetrators than the vindication of survivors. While the child abuse is more than a passing issue to be bantered about by talk show hosts, the community leaders must come up with preventive strategies.   It is not enough to warn a child to keep off strangers.  By now, we might have told our children about “good and bad touches”, but don’t miss to caution that it is often from someone we know and trust.  Keep an eye on a lesser known but growing category of molesters – children who perpetrate sexual crimes  upon children younger than themselves, as  nearly half of all sex offenders are juveniles. 

The common trouble spots include lack of a sexual assault response policy and underreporting of campus crime statistics.   Studies also indicate that victims who have not come to terms with the abuse they suffered as children, will, in time, repeat the same destructive patterns.  The educational institutions should adopt some promising practices to prevent and manage sexual assault.  The campus  programme should include comprehensive education about rape myths, common circumstances under which the crime occurs, prevention strategies, rape trauma responses….. along with a sexual assault policy clarifying all forms of sexual misconduct, and provide  reporting options. As campus grievance procedures are civil in nature, the sexual offenders are found “responsible”, not “guilty”.

The strongest punishment schools can deliver is to expel a rapist from campus which can be valid for cheating on a Physics final, not for a felony on par with murder.  Campus judicial systems aren’t designed to address that sort of defence.  A system run by corporates will always try to  put the school’s interests above that of the victims. Probing sexual assault complaints and meting out punishment should be a police matter, handled by personnel trained to deal with such highly complex cases, as these are tough crimes to investigate, as rape is more than a violation of campus discipline.

Students should be surveyed annually about sexual violence on campuses and the results made public and present a more accurate picture of campus life, while they  also must take responsibility for protecting themselves and be mindful that alcohol and drug use can lower their defence which can target them easy prey.

Beware of illusions

We owe it to our children to remember that the next generation of molesters is emerging from this generation.   Become aware of our own bias – our illusions that cloud our judgement by making us believe that we live in a much kindlier and gentler world than is really the case.  “Rape culture” is deemed as the set of widely held social and cultural beliefs that tend to make sexual abuse invisible and inevitable.  

Image courtesy: The Hindu

Few campus rapes are reported, fewer prosectuted. National Crimes Bureau Annual Report confirms that “rapes are committed in all states as well as the rapists belong to all castes, communities, colours and regions of India and abroad”, adding that “a woman is raped somewhere in India every 20 minutes , and the number of children raped has increased by 336 per cent  in the last 10 years”.

It is disturbing that our children are so trivialised  as to become the objects of exploitation and their innocence is sought to be destroyed for perverted greed.  When sexual violence occurs on campus and authorities fail to adequately respond, there is a fundamental breakdown in educational mission.  Men who treat women with respect can play a big role in preventing the crime.   Human Rights activists who fight capital punishment should propose meaningful inputs.  The children need to be protected, not labeled as tramps.

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