Banning bouncers will not solve the issue: Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar

The tragic death of Phillip Hughes on Thursday after being hit on the head by a bouncer from Sean Abbott has led to a debate over the last 24 hours or so on whether the bouncer should be outlawed for the game of cricket. Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who used to put fear into batsmen with his pace and bounce, feels that such a response would be a knee-jerk one.

He went on to add that although Hughes’s death was extremely unfortunate, banning the bouncer will not solve the core of the issue. He said: "Bouncers should not be banned. That is not the solution to this issue. Phil Hughes' death is an unfortunate incident, but banning the bouncer will not help matters."

Akhtar, who took 178 wickets from 46 Tests and 247 wickets from 163 ODIs, also was hopeful that helmet manufacturers around the world would improve their equipment in the near future in order to protect such injuries.

"It is time the helmet manufacturers look at adding a protective material which takes care of the back of the head and the neck. Hopefully some work will begin on it soon," advised Akhtar.

The 39-year-old himself struck body blows on a number of batsmen during his time, but there were lucky to get away with nothing more than bruises.

"When I bowled, batsmen got hit worse than this (Hughes), maybe Phil Hughes got hit on a sensitive part.

“I remember Brian Lara got hit when I bowled to him at around the same area during the Champions Trophy. There have been other cricketers too like Gary Kirsten who got hit on his face when I bowled to him in 2003," recalled Akhtar.