The broken nose saga continues
Watching cricketers today playing with all sorts of protective gear – perfectly understandable under the circumstances – one sometimes wonders how their predecessors played without practically any protection till about four decades ago. Yes, there was the mandatory box along with a thigh guard and then later came the chest guard and arm guard. But there is no doubt that it was the advent of Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket that hastened the arrival of the helmet and other such additional protective gear. The format of the competition gave the fast bowlers almost gladiatorial right not only just to bowl really fast but to also endanger the batsman’s body. It was during the WSC that the helmet first made its appearance and Australia’s Graham Yallop is credited with the first to use it an official Test – in the West Indies in 1978. Among all the protective gear for the batsmen the helmet is considered the most precious as it protects the head. An injury on the head can even prove to be fatal and as such it cannot be doubted that it has proved to be beneficial to the batsmen. So often we have seen the batsmen duck and be hit on the helmet or perhaps he has misjudged the length and the speed of the ball and is struck. In the pre-helmet days batsmen had to be extra careful in negotiating the faster deliveries for obviously he could not afford to be hit on the head. These days it is not an uncommon sight to see a batsmen being hit on the helmet for he is aware that even if he makes a misjudgment he is protected. But as we have seen this is not guaranteed. The recent mishap to Stuart Broad in the Old Trafford Test against India is a case in point. The tall left handed England all rounder hooked Varun Aaron for successive sixes – a grand way to open his account. Heady with success he went for another maximum off the very next ball. But having just come in perhaps he had not got his eye fully in for this delivery – another short one - was a shade quicker timed at 141 kmph and rose probably more than Broad expected. He was late on the stroke and the ball struck him flush on the grille of the helmet where it lodged itself. Some of the newer helmets have an extra grille on the visor but it appeared that Broad’s helmet didn’t. The ball went in between the grille and the peak of the helmet and it was quickly obvious that it was a nasty blow with the bridge of the nose taking the maximum impact. He was bleeding and the physio rushed out to render first aid. Broad was led off holding a cloth to the bloody nose. Not unexpectedly he did not take any further part in the match even as England made light of his absence as a bowler and won in three days by an innings and 54 runs.
Taken to hospital Broad required stitches for a fractured nose but he made a fast recovery and included in the team for the final Test at the Oval he played with a nose splint to disguise the temporary damage. Broad’s case is not the first such incident. There have been a few players over the years who have suffered grievous injuries in a similar manner with the helmet unable to save them. The most famous – or infamous depending on one’s point of view – is the one involving Mike Gatting and Malcolm Marshall. It happened on the 1985-86 England tour of the West Indies. Gatting the vice captain had been one of the few batsmen to be among the runs during the early phase of the tour but in the first ODI at Kingston he suffered a blow which had long term consequences both in playing terms and psychologically. England batted first and Gatting came in when the score was ten for two with both Tim Robinson and skipper David Gower falling for ducks to Patrick Patterson. The fearsome West Indian speed quartet was at full strength for besides Patterson, there were Marshall, Courtney Walsh and Joel Garner. Gatting had scored ten when he missed an attempted hook off Marshall and was struck flush on the nose. To add insult to injury the ball cannoned off his face to the stumps. Gatting was predictably donning protective gear but some of the early helmets did not have the visors that came in later. Gatting flew home to get his nose fixed and after convalescing for some time rejoined the team four weeks later. As misfortune would have it he broke his thumb within 20 hours of his return in the game against Barbados. In the first innings he batted bravely showing no after effects of his facial injury but after making 36 in 85 minutes he had no counter to a fast medium delivery from Vibert Greene which as bad luck would again have it lifted steeply to his bottom hand whence it looped to second slip where Carlisle Best completed the catch. Gatting did not bat in the second innings and took no further part in the tour. How much impact Gatting’s initial injury had on the team as a whole could be debated but the fact remains that England suffered a 5-0 ``blackwash’’ in the Test series besides losing the ODI series 3-1.
One recalls Manoj Prabhakar meeting with the same fate at the hands of Walsh on the 1994-95 West Indian tour of India. As an opening batsman Prabhakar was courageous personified and this quality saw him face up to the fastest of bowlers despite limitations in his technique. In the third and final Test at Mohali he had scored a brave 120 in the first innings – incidentally the only Test century in his 39-match career - batting for 405 minutes and handling the pace of Walsh, Kenny Benjamin, Cameron Cuffy and Andy Cummins admirably. In the second innings when India were set a victory target of 357 Prabhakar again opened but before he could open his account he had his nose broken by Walsh in the very first over. He tried to pull the ball but it went through his helmet grille causing considerable damage. Prabhakar was led off bleeding and not unexpectedly could not come back to bat even as India went down to defeat by 243 runs. While on the subject I also recall Kris Srikkanth being hit on the face by a ball from Wasim Akram despite wearing a helmet in an ODI between India and Pakistan at Hyderabad in 1987. He had scored just two and the injury kept him out of the three remaining matches in the series. Without their most explosive batsman
@ crictoday.com
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