(EDS: Note language in ninth par)
By Laine Clark
BRISBANE, Nov 28 AAP – Sledging – not bouncers – should be “stamped out” in the wake of the Phillip Hughes tragedy, former England captain Michael Vaughan says.
While heartbroken over Hughes’ sad passing, Vaughan believed eradicating the verbal abuse that marred last summer’s Ashes series should be the priority, saying outlawing bouncers would “be the end of Test match cricket”.
“The aggressive nature of Test match cricket has to carry on,” Vaughan told BBC Sport.
“You want fast bowlers firing down bouncers, intimidating batsman – that’s high level sport.”
Vaughan later wrote in his The Telegraph column: “The bouncer is such an important part of the game.
“It is a test of mental toughness.
“It is designed to put the batsman off his game, upset his foot movement and get his head in the wrong position, which is what batting is all about.
“I hope that does not change.”
However, Vaughan hoped the heartwrenching Hughes incident would end sledging and help bring respect back into the game.
Australian captain Michael Clarke was infamously heard on stump microphones at the Gabba Ashes Test a year ago telling notorious chirper and England tailender James Anderson to “get ready for a broken f***ing arm” before Mitchell Johnson resumed his bumper barrage.
“Where we may see change is in the use of language on the field,” Vaughan said.
“Sledging has gone too far recently and players have made threats on the field which they would not get away with in the outside world.
“They will think twice now and respect for everybody within the game might return.”
“Over the last few years cricket has gone beyond respect.
“I hope this incident will send a message worldwide that you play aggressive, but let’s stamp out this verbal abuse.”
However, former England paceman Matthew Hoggard believed speedsters would be reluctant to send down a bumper.
“As a bowler, you will think twice,” he told BBC Sport.
“What happens if it’s me who delivers that ball?”
Former Australian captain Ian Chappell agreed that all the pressure would now be on fast bowlers in light of Hughes’ death.
“I’m sure the first bowler who bowls a bouncer, it won’t be the normal intent there,” he told Fox Sports.
“They’ll be bowling it thinking ‘I’ve got to bowl a bouncer, but … I hope like hell it doesn’t hit someone’.
“And after a couple, they’ll sort of get back into the swing of it.”
He added: “It’s probably a bit easier for the batsmen, strange as that may seem.
“Because they’re not going to be thinking about getting hit, they’re just going to be thinking about how they normally play a bouncer, whether they try to hook it or whether they avoid it.
“It’s probably going to be tougher for the bowlers in a strange way than it will be for the batsmen.”
