SK Glossary: What is a beamer in cricket?

The game of Cricket is full of variations. There are just so many unique terms used in Cricket which make it a completely different one from all other sports. Stumps, pitch, bails and many other exclusive terms used in Cricket are unheard of in any other sport which makes the game even more exciting.

What is a Beamer?

One such term is the Beamer. A Beamer is a high full toss that goes over the waist height of the batsman benchmarked when he is standing inside the crease. It is considered to be a dangerous ball and immediately the umpire signals it to be no ball. The batsman could get hurt badly because most parts of the body above the waist remain unprotected to provide flexibility.

Why does it happen?

On most occasions it’s due sweaty palms or a wet ball (dew covered outfield). Sometimes the bowler aims to bowl a Yorker especially during the death overs and the trajectory could go horribly wrong and result in a beamer.

Repercussions

The threatening nature of the deIivery leads the Umpire to issue a first ‘warning’ to the bowler. If the bowler delivers another beamer in the same innings, the umpire suspends him from bowling for the remainder of the innings. The ball might slip out of the hands if it is wet. Recent changes in Rule have resulted in a beamer resulting in a free hit for the next ball, which wasn’t the case earlier. In Test matches, though, there is no such concept of free hit yet.

Potential Controversy?

It is one aspect of the game which yields a lot of controversies. There have been several incidents when a beamer has given rise to ugly incidents between the bowler and the batsman. Even though the bowler mostly apologises, the batsmen in the heat of the occasion tend to react angrily. A beamer bowled by a spinner might not be that dangerous, but it is lethal when a pacer delivers it, as the batsman gets very less reaction time to get out of the way.

The most recent altercation involving a beamer took place in the quarter-final of the ICC World Cup 2015. The Indians were batting first against Bangladesh. Rohit Sharma was batting on 90 and India were at 195/3 in the 40th over. Rubel Hossain bowled a high full toss at him and he hit that ball in the air towards square leg. The fielder there took the catch but the umpire ruled that bowl to be above the waist. Rohit survived a narrow escape and went to score 137 runs and India finished with 302. India won that match by 109 runs.

This did not amuse the Bangladeshi fans and they were furious with it. There was a huge rampage over social media. Aleem Dar the umpire who gave that a no ball was criticized all over. It was a crucial moment in the game as Rohit took the game away completely from Bangladesh after that. But at the end, as it happens in cricket, it was the umpire’s decision that matters.

Beamers and controversies go hand in hand. It depends on the players how they react to it. Brett Lee once delivered a beamer at Sachin Tendulkar, but for the true gentleman that the Little Master is, did not throw any swear words at the bowler and sportingly accepted Lee’s apology and shook hands with him. This does not happen every time, though. But such is the beauty of Cricket that keeps us engaged in the game all the time.