Bouncers in the old days

[bagapath]

andy lloyd still has vision problems after playing one solitary test in his life when a malcolm marshall rocket hit him

amarnath's jaw was rearranged by hadlee once.

brian close getting peppered all over was also typical uncovered wicket era story

one obvious difference since the introduction of helmet is that the hook shot is no longer frequently used. earlier it was not just an attacking shot but also one of the ways of protecting your face

 

[JimmyGS]

one obvious difference since the introduction of helmet is that the hook shot is no longer frequently used.

What? Yes it is.

 

[Cricket_God]

or b.c players didn't bowl that fast?

You are right mate,If the bowlers were 90mph no matter how good batsman reflexes are
on uncovered pitches there could be more casualties in a match than a war.

 

[wpdavid]

Pray tell?

In case you didn't know, they didn't use to wear pads and there could be issues of blood clotting from severe bruising on unproptected legs regularly being hit.

Apologies if you knew that and only wanted specific examples.

I'm with Goughy on this one insofar as I vaguely recall reading about someone dying as a result, but I'm not 100% certain.


EDIT
Here's an account of Mynn's innings, after which he almost had a leg amputated.

http://content.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/135983.html

A quick search hasn't come up with anyone losing their life as a result though.

 

[stephen]

Well the thing about uncovered pitches is that they were dangerous because they make the ball jump off a length, or have great sideways movement. Neither of these is going to be too dangerous for a batsman as the ball that pops off a good length gets slowed greatly by the impact with the pitch and the ball that moves sideways or swings isn't going to be a dangerously high delivery. The more dangerous ball on the uncovered pitch is the one that jumps off a length, but most good batsmen could handle it better as they knew the pitches better. Today's batsmen simply don't have to face this kind of bowling and therefore are not adjusted to it. They also play more risky cricket because of the protection helmets offer.

 

[vic_orthdox]

What? Yes it is.

Plenty of batsmen pull. There are very few who hook these days.

 

[Matt79]

Geoff Lawson had his face rearranged by Ambrose in Perth wearing the old grill-less helmet. What was the name of the young English Indian kid who got hit in the head in the early 80s and came out to bat, Graeme Smith style with his head all bandaged up in the second dig? Vs Australia

 

[wpdavid]

Geoff Lawson had his face rearranged by Ambrose in Perth wearing the old grill-less helmet. What was the name of the young English Indian kid who got hit in the head in the early 80s and came out to bat, Graeme Smith style with his head all bandaged up in the second dig? Vs Australia

I don't remember an English batsman doing that. Maybe you're thinking of Rick McCosker doing that for Aus against England in the 1977 Centenary test?

 

[Matt79]

That's another one I believe. Was pretty sure this kid was English of Indian descent, and in his first few tests at the time.

Charlie Griffith half killed some Indian batsman whose name eludes me - that's when the stuff about him being a chucker started to get nasty.

 

[Goughy]

The Simmonds Brothers > Background

Bert Sutcliffe getting sconed

 

[Matt79]

It was Contractor that Griffith hit. Pretty saw one of miller or lindwall hit Compton badly at one point.

 

[stumpski]

Andy Lloyd's Test career only lasted about 40 minutes, and he was wearing a helmet ...

He did go on to play several more seasons though, so I'm surprised he still has vision problems.

 

[The Sean]

Geoff Lawson had his face rearranged by Ambrose in Perth wearing the old grill-less helmet. What was the name of the young English Indian kid who got hit in the head in the early 80s and came out to bat, Graeme Smith style with his head all bandaged up in the second dig? Vs Australia

I think you're referring to Sandeep Patil in 1980-81, though he was actually Indian - got clocked by both Hogg and Pascoe IIRC and collapsed, only to come out and bat again in the second innings.

 

[stumpski]

It was Contractor that Griffith hit. Pretty saw one of miller or lindwall hit Compton badly at one point.

It was in the Old Trafford Test of 1948. Wisden: "Lindwall began a number of bouncers one of which led to an accident to Compton. After being struck on the arm he began a big hit at a 'no-ball' bumper, but the ball flew off the edge of his bat on to his forehead. Compton staggered around and was led off the field with a cut head. Stitches were inserted and although he wanted to go back at the fall of the next wicket he was ordered to rest."

Compton resumed at 119-5 and went on to hit 145, one of the great Ashes performances which helped England to their only draw of the series.

 

[oitoitoi]

It was in the Old Trafford Test of 1948. Wisden: "Lindwall began a number of bouncers one of which led to an accident to Compton. After being struck on the arm he began a big hit at a 'no-ball' bumper, but the ball flew off the dge of his bat on to his forehead. Compton staggered around and was led off the field with a cut head. Stitches were inserted and although he wanted to go back at the fall of the next wicket he was ordered to rest."

Compton resumed at 119-5 and went on to hit 145, one of the great Ashes performances which helped England to their only draw of the series.

Compo knew what he was doing, with all that bryll cream he would have been fine!

 

[Richard]

Jimmy Adams wasn't the same batsmen after he had his cheekbone smashed by Andre Van Troost of Somerset, became more and more defensive.

I've never been completely sure about this one. It was a horrific blow, undoubtedly, but Adams had already begun on the downward slope before it. His time as a sensational player was easily short enough for it to be likely that it was going to happen anyway, van Troost or no van Troost.

 

[Richard]

Mike Gatting got a free facelift from Marshall as well, obviously

andy lloyd still has vision problems after playing one solitary test in his life when a malcolm marshall rocket hit him

amarnath's jaw was rearranged by hadlee once.

Geoff Lawson had his face rearranged by Ambrose in Perth wearing the old grill-less helmet. What was the name of the young English Indian kid who got hit in the head in the early 80s and came out to bat, Graeme Smith style with his head all bandaged up in the second dig? Vs Australia

I think you're referring to Sandeep Patil in 1980-81, though he was actually Indian - got clocked by both Hogg and Pascoe IIRC and collapsed, only to come out and bat again in the second innings.

It's funny how all these (and the Adams one) came not in the pre-helmet era but the pre-grille era. There was also of course Phil Simmons in 1988. So many of the most serious injuries seem to have occurred in between helmets becoming commonplace and grilles becoming commonplace. Wonder if there's anything in that?

BTW there had been no British Asians play for England in the early-1980s (Ranji, Duleep and Iftikhar Ali Khan weren't really British Asians, just Indians who migrated purely to play cricket). The first was Nasser Hussain in 1990.

 

[Glacier]

I've got another question.

How commonly would bouncers have been bowled at the lower levels of cricket? i can't imagine many amateur batsmen wanting to face anything thats fast and short.

 

[Dissector]

BTW there had been no British Asians play for England in the early-1980s (Ranji, Duleep and Iftikhar Ali Khan weren't really British Asians, just Indians who migrated purely to play cricket). The first was Nasser Hussain in 1990.

Subba Row would probably be the first British Indian to play cricket for England.

 

[Dissector]

Incidentally Amarnath also got hit by an Imran bouncer in the late 70's. There used to be a Youtube video about it but I think it's been removed.