Bouncers are aggressive deliveries bowled by the bowlers to rattle the batsmen, and if you're hit by a bouncer then for sure it can break your arm, jaw or it can damage your eyes as well or in worst case scenario it can kill, so there are rules placed by ICC so that bowlers can use it as a part of strategy, but still there are some instances which can't be helped.
Nari Contractor
India toured West Indies in the year 1962, their captain Nari Contractor decided to open against Barbados in a tour game in Kensington Oval.
What followed is shown in the images-
Charlie Griffith bowled a bouncer which hit Contractor in his head.
The Indian captain was in critical condition and battled for his life post surgery. Fellow players from both sides donated blood for the procedure. Contractor recovered, but never played for India again.
Andy Lloyd
Andy Lloyd is one of those guys who played only one test after toiling hard for that opportunity by putting performances in domestic matches for years after years, and after all this Andy Lloyd played only one test for his country England and not for a fault of his own.
He was picked for the test series against West Indies at the year 1984, unfortunately when he came into bat he was hit by a bouncer bowled by Malcolm Marshall
It hit him on his ear and forced him to retire. Lloyd played no further part in the game as he had a concussion. That remained his only Test outing, and to date, he is the only player to open the batting and not be dismissed in his career.
Craig Kieswetter
England’s former wicket keeper and considered as a 'next big thing', everything is almost going in Kieswetter's way and despite his inconsistency he was almost a regular in English cricket team, he is considered as a fine One day specialist.
However it all changed in one fateful day.
Kieswetter's career was cut short by an injury sustained while batting for Somerset in July 2014: a bouncer bowled by David Willey penetrated the gap between his helmet’s grille and visor and struck him in the face, damaging his vision.
He underwent facial surgery,
and suffered from double vision for a while after, despite returning to cricket he still has vision problems, so in June, 2015 he announced his retirement from professional cricket, saying that, although he was still capable of playing, he could not play to the standard he wanted.
In 2017, he became a professional golfer.
Phil Hughes
One of the tragic incident of the cricket is the death of talented cricketer Phil Hughes, almost certain to be selected in the next test series against India Phil Hughes played for South Australia in a Shield game against his former team New South Wales.just when he started to get comfortable a bouncer from the young Sean Abbott hit him on the side of the head. Hughes looked shocked and within seconds, collapsed to the ground face-on.
The game was abandoned and a helicopter flew in to take him to hospital. David Warner, his Australia teammate and friend, was sitting next to him as they stretchered him off.
Unfortunately, Hughes didn't survive, this incident stunned whole cricket world, the series against India became quite emotional for Australian cricketers.
The Trauma
Sometimes life became traumatic after being hit by a bouncer, like in the case of Mark Vermeulen who was being hit by a bouncer bowled by Irfan Pathan.
He did tried to return to the game, but still believe to be traumatized, or like in the case of Stuart Broad
Considered as a handy lower order batsman, however a bouncer bowled by Varun Aaron shook his confidence
He top-edged the ball through the grille of his helmet and was left with damage to his nose and two black eyes.
In his own words "I get nightmares still and I wake up thinking I have been hit in the face by a ball," he said.
"Even when I get tired I see balls flying at me. My jaw clicks from it and if I have two glasses of wine I have black eyes."
Jonathan Trott is among the best batsmen of English Cricket team, however during the 2014 Ashes series in Australia Trott made 19 runs in the first Test at Brisbane, before returning home due to a stress related illness. In his autobiography, he cites his increasing struggles facing the short ball as a principal cause of his problems
: "I felt I was being questioned as a man. I felt my dignity was being stripped away with every short ball I ducked or parried. It was degrading."
Hope we don't have to see more of this incidents.
Image source:- Google, Getty Images
Information :- Google, Wikipedia.
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