Cricketer Phil Hughes critical

SNAP.  Nothing wrong with the bouncer imo.  Is quite freaky for a serious injury in the days of helmets.

Yes Rob, but the wearing of helmets simply made umpires become less keen on stopping aggressive bowling.
I can't see how this is part of the game myself

It gets people scared and it gets people out.  Getting people out is quite a big part of the game.

Quite amazing when the first bouncer was bowled people didn`t say what the hell are you doing you
complete lunatic.

Throwing the ball instead of bowling would also scare batsmen and likely get em out but that's not allowed

Any serious injury resulting from a bouncer should have the possibility
of a jail sentence, possible manslaughter charges or worse.

It's nothing these days compared with what the great Brian Close faced in 1976. Prepare to be amazed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-f5pfBgpNE

In 1976, the 45-year-old Brian Close was called up for the first three Tests in England's five-Test series against the West Indies,[30] who were no less ferocious than when Close was battered by them in 1963. In the second innings of the third Test at Old Trafford,[31] Close's final Test innings, Close opened with the 39-year-old John Edrich. Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Wayne Daniel, a trio of fast bowlers, pounded them for two and a half hours. It was one of the most brutal displays of fast bowling ever seen. Wisden said, "Close and Edrich defended their wickets and themselves against fast bowling, which was frequently too wild and hostile to be acceptable".[32] Close himself said, "It must have been the worst wicket I experienced in Test cricket. The faster the West Indians bowled the worse it got because the balls broke through the surface of the wicket. They exploded and flew at you."[citation needed] With this innings of 20 runs off 108 balls in 162 minutes Close completed his Test career, under a vicious barrage, standing tall and taking the damage as he had against the West Indies at Lord's 13 years earlier.

After that, both Close and Edrich were dropped for the fourth Test. The interval between Close's first and last Test matches was 27 years, the second-longest after Wilfred Rhodes. Only one man, Zimbabwean John Traicos, has since played a Test match at a greater age

45 years old and facing the fastest bowler ever possibly, without a helmet. He was a very tough cookie.

I've never played at that level but I can't help thinking that standing there and letting the ball hit you is not a very clever idea.  Close only averaged 25 with the bat.  Just seems common for yorkshire sorts to put the kind of willfully stupid behaviour that is standing there and letting a ball hit you up on a pedestal.

John Conteh stopped his son from playing cricket because of the danger - recommended boxing instead...from a Parkinson interview.

no question you need a pair of stones to stand up to that sort of bowling.
The question is whether it should be allowed.
At present the rules are effectively that the bowler can attempt to take the batsmans head off once every six balls quite legally.
Since beamers are not permitted then nor should bouncers that only bounce 1 more time than a beamer

Brian Close might have been a Yorkshireman, but at that time he was captain of the Somerset team that had turned Viv Richards into an international batsman.

Richards might have been playing for the W Indies in that game, but says that when Close was felled during that Old Trafford innings, he went over and anxiously enquired, "Are you OK, skip?"

"FOOK OFF!" came the reply.

Remembering those amazing scenes with Brian Close - and with the Hughes injury…

Exciting though it may be for spectators, it does make you reconsider whether bouncers really should be part the game of cricket.

Maybe, the height of the wickets should be some clue.

Getting a batsman out is not simply about bowling a good length ball.

A well bowled bouncer can put the element of surprise in a batsman. Fear even.

If you remove the bouncer the game is dead.

They could also prepare slower/less bouncy pitches.  All bowling, at its best, is great to watch when it is a real battle between batsman and bowler whether that be fast and short, line and length seam and swing, or spin.

the problem is ofc everyone has to bat at somepoint however bad you are at it
the same cant be said for bowling