Let’s make the gentleman’s game a safe sport
It is time to set some rules to cricket to protect players.
Cricket, widely regarded as the ‘best game’ by its fans, is the second most popular game in the world. It is as exciting as it is dangerous and this year witnessed its danger. Following the death of the 25-year-old Australian batsman, Philip Hughes, on November 27, the cricket world is left in shock. His tragic death has many calling into question just how safe the sport is - and if any more can be done to stop further tragedies?
There are plenty of other instances that proves how fatal the cricket ball is, which is made out of cork. Numerous injuries have been reported to various health institutions in relation to the cricket ball injuries including ocular (with some players having lost their eyes), cranial (head), dental (teeth), digital (fingers and toes), and testicular.
It is about time to implement some steps to put an end to, or at least reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by the fatal cricket ball. There are various alternatives that could be preferred for reasons of safety, practice, availability and cost. Examples include a tennis ball or a plastic version of the cricket ball.
Many casual players opt to use a tennis ball wrapped in layers of some type of adhesive tape (often electrical tape), which makes the relatively soft tennis ball both harder and smoother and that is commonly referred to as a tape ball. A common variant is to tape only half of the tennis ball to provide two different sides and make it easy to bowl with prodigious amounts of swing.
By implementing certain rules like the fact that a bowler cannot bowl faster than a specific speed can be made to ensure the safety of cricketers playing on the field. In addition, better protective equipment could be introduced to protect the safety of the players. Let’s take preventive steps to make this “gentleman’s game” a safer sport.
- The reader is an Indian pupil based in Dubai.
