Follow UsAfter growing concerns regarding the rise in concussion cases in the sport, the Marylebone Cricket Club recently launched a global consultation to take stocks about the use of bouncers. While the 2014 incident of Phil Hughes being hit by a bouncer and then subsequently losing life because of it made the sport shiver for the danger of the tactic, Derbyshire's wicketkeeper Harvey Hosein was forced to retire at the age of 25 after suffering a series of concussions.
Those incidents called for a global change in metric but the MCC decided not to make any changes to the existing system. However, the MCC stated that they would put in efforts to ensure that players would be educated about the dangers of concussion.
"The results of the consultation show that short-pitched bowling, within the Laws, is an important part of the makeup of the sport and in fact, to change it would materially change the game," Jamie Cox, MCC's Assistant Secretary for Cricket and Operations, said.
"Given that the Laws allow for umpires to intervene should they believe that there is a safety consideration with the batter on strike, we encourage them to use their discretion and ensure that any risk of injury is minimized," Cox added. "We will also continue to educate players and officials about the risks of concussion."
According to the Law 41.6 of the MCC Cricket Manual, the umpire is allowed to take "into consideration the skill of the striker, by their speed, length, height, and direction they are likely to inflict physical injury" and if s/he found any breach in the same, they can call the bowler off. Last year, during India's tour of England, James Anderson was subjected to 10 short balls by the Indian pacers.