i don't mean to be disrespectful here because, like many people, this incident has rattled me pretty hard, but:Originally Posted by snake
when the sport in question literally entails one person throwing a ball in the direction of another person with the sole intention of intimidating and ultimately dismissing that person, the answer you seek is "yes"
I disagree.
I've played the sport all my life and whilst the bouncer is an intimidating action it is no different to a solid DM body checking a speedy winger or charging at a keeper during a corner. Or a prop forward in the rugby codes steam rolling a halfback.
Believe it or not there are now more head injuries in cricket today with the advent of state of the art protective equipment then before helmets made an appearance. Problem we have now is that the amount of safety equipment, combined with professionalism and win at all costs attitude means that batsmen now take more risks. In years gone by a batsmen would for the most part avoid the bouncer and either duck or walk away (depending on delivery) and very rarely would they attempt to hook/pull a short pitch delivery unless they had some balls. Now batsmen will try to score as many runs as possible.
Sad times for cricket the world over. It certainly made me think about the 10 times I'd been hit in the head/helmet by a bouncer and I'm sure, like me, there are many of batsmen out there thanking their lucky stars their injuries were not as severe as that encountered by phil.
Nah, otherwise we wouldn't have boxing and MMA.
Can confirm i thoroughly enjoyed Mitch Johnsons bouncers that q referenced at the last ashes. They were sick. Also he used the term "squllions" which just feels right.
Sad day, i feel for all involed.
OK
The freak nature of the accident was explained well by the doc today. He said there were only 100 cases on record where the same amount of trauma was experienced to the artery. And only one case world wide on record had been caused by a cricket ball.
Id dare say way more people die on football fields every year compared to cricket. It's a really safe sport.
It was just an accident. That's all.
Doesn't make it any less sad though.
Unfortunately, technique has suffered because of the hit and giggle forms of the game AND helmets. Guys try to hit everything and think if they miss the helmet will save them. So many of them turn their head which didn't happen before.
I have watched cricket since the 70's and guarantee that far more batmen get hit now than in the past. I batted for over 20 years without a helmet, against some top class speedsters and got hit on the head once - I put that down to technique developed with a fear of getting hit.
I just hope they don't kill the game now by panicking.
The bruises that remained on my body from two weeks ago tell a different story.
Don't get me wrong I love a good bouncer, I'm usually on the receiving end due to my lack of height meaning good length balls become short stuff. It's good for the game, it brings upon a great source of intimidation and or runs/wickets.
The only reason I bring up the topic of banning it is simply because of the sad state of sports these days whereby the game is being ruined because some do gooder thinks it's a bad look or doesn't go down well with the younger kids blah blah blah
This is honestly a one in a million and I hope to god this never happens again. How many times do you see a short ball hit the helmet and the only thing wrong is simply the helmet has a nice dent in it or it's been shattered into pieces?
Jaliens gives me the horn
With all this protection these days, Batsmen are getting too complacent, believing that their helmets chest guards arm guards etc will save them should they have a big swing no ding.
Jaliens gives me the horn
FYI the ball didn't hit him in the head, blunt force to the artery in the neck resulted in a hernia which caused swelling on the brian.
A FREAK accident.
R.I.P Phil
Which was one of my points - with a proper technique for the pull shot the head and eyes remain behind and facing the ball. If you miss it's the forehead, nose or cheek that gets hit - still not nice of course, but it meant you only played the shot when confident. Batsmen now take their eye off the ball and turn their head - it's not the first time I've seen guys hit in the neck or back of the head.
Yes - it is still freakish.
I dunno about any of you guys, but I teared up big time when Pup was giving his speech, absolutely heartbreaking. And the image of Phils dad absolutely shattered carrying his coffin out of the hall with Aaron Finch behind him crying left me a teary mess. A great turnout from the Macksville community, a town I too am very familiar with as my father grew up there, they are all one big family and they are doing so well to stick together after the loss of their favourite son
Rest In Peace Hughesy, may you continue to play that sexual cut shot and breed the best cattle in Heaven
Jaliens gives me the horn
I actually thought the whole thing was cringeworthy and the medias handling of it an absolute ****ing disgrace and the lowest thing in the world to be televising it.
Was almost like they wanted the reality TV aspect of it for ratings
Contrast the circus Hughes death and the death of Dylan Tombides earlier this year. Both promising Aussie sportsmen both cut down tragically through little fault of their own.
Tombidies barely got 1% of the publicity Hughes has and his death was at least treated with a degree of respect/acknowledgment from the press.
I am sure Hughes' family has had enough to deal with in the last week they didn't need the entire country viewing what should have been a private moment for them and Hughes friends/associates
do you have an ulcer?
Are you for real? It is not a competition...
Those two terrible losses were hugely different circumstances.
The death of Phil Hughes just seemed to upset people more than normal, I certainly was one of them. I always find it tragic when i hear news like this, but for some reason this one just got me.
And to be able to stop for a moment and pay my respects, without having to go to Macksville, made me feel a lot better about it.
WE DON'T DO WALKING AWAY !
MFKS being a controversial wankstain in yet another thread. Go figure.
MKFS must be so much fun to live with !
The family were open to the funeral being televised and the national interest was there, that wasn't there for Dylan to be frank. Overall it was done quite well - personally I hate "cheesy" etc etc but thought this was done tastefully. Sure they showed lots of celebs, but that was because they didn't want too many closeups on the family and cutaway when appropriate.
No ads and the quiet music fitted in well.
On the other hand, once the Nine news journos got their turn later in the evening they were the exact opposite !!!
Why though does it upset people more than normal?? Death is a natural thing in life unfortunately. we will all suffer that fate one day
The majority of the population have never met the bloke and two weeks ago barely half of the country would have known who he was. Why is there this level of public emotion for a bloke people haven't met/known about at all?? Where does it come from?? Just because he has some degree of celebrity his passing should not be mourned by the public in a manner of hysteria.
To give the CEO of Cricket Australia Sutherland credit his handling of the situation has been pretty first class up until this. Shielding his players from the Media scrutiny and not dodging the hard times and fronting the press in the tough times.
Surprised he let the media when he would have the connections/pull to get it stopped anywhere near the funeral. Rather poor form to let the Australian Cricket players pain/suffering/privacy in a tough time for them to be exposed to the world and also allow Hughes whose interests he should be representing to have his funeral turned into a media circus.
As for the Hughes family agreeing to it.
Firstly they have had enough on their plate this past week their judgement on whether it was to be permitted to be filmed and broadcast to the public is straight away compromised.
Secondly they should never have been asked. The cockheads at the TV stations who sanctioned this are ****wits of the highest order and have used the tragic death of Hughes for their own interests at the expense of the privacy of the Hughes family and his friends and associates.
****ING SCUM
No idea, i certainly am not a person who usually gets to emotional or caught up in sad news about celebrities/sports people etc. But this did just get me and I've spoken to numerous other and the amount tributes show many felt the same.
I am hardly shocked that you are hear bagging it all though...
WE DON'T DO WALKING AWAY !
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