Cricket: Test for umpires in bouncer rule

By RICHARD BOOCK

New Zealand coach Denis Aberhart will seek further clarification of the one-bouncer-an-over ruling before the start of next month's one-day series against Pakistan.

Among a cluster of rules to be introduced on September 1, the change will allow pacemen such as Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar to deliver one full-blooded bouncer an over, something which was outlawed under the previous regulations.

The catch for the bowlers is that any delivery which rises above the batsman's head height will be a no-ball.

New Zealand Cricket's national umpiring manager, Brian Aldridge, has described the new rule as a challenging one for umpires, and Aberhart said he would be looking to clarify how the law would be interpreted before and after he arrived in Pakistan.

The problem for bowlers and umpires is that a delivery will be considered a legal bouncer if it rises above the height of a batsman's shoulder, and an illegal bouncer if it clears the head.

"That's a small window of opportunity no matter who the bowler is," Aberhart said yesterday.

"It's going to be hard to judge for the umpires, and I guess that's what most interests me at this stage.

"I've already read the new rules but this one is a bit different.

"I'll have more discussions with Brian Aldridge before we leave and seek some more clarification once we get there.

"As it is, it seems a very small target, particularly as it is supposed to be measured from the batsman's standing position, rather from in his stance, which was the previous rule."

Aberhart said another difficulty facing fast bowlers was that the height limit for the bouncer would depend on the height of the batsman facing, forcing continual adjustments if the bouncer was to be exploited with any degree of effectiveness.

But he was sure the extra latitude for the pace bowlers would be quickly harnessed and would gradually become part of the tactical battle between bat and ball.

"Against some batsmen, it could be a reasonable option," Aberhart said.

"It will definitely have an impact and will become a tactical part of the game.

"We could see some changes, particularly nearing the end of an over or an innings.

"Field changes, decoy or not, things could get interesting at the death."

The other main change scheduled to be brought in with the minor alterations next month may not even see the light of day.

The new rule was supposed to penalise a team six runs for each over it bowled after the set innings time had elapsed, an initiative aimed at bringing more equality to the existing system.

But the downside was that the adjustment was also likely to cause major confusion and had the potential to leave supporters in the dark as captains, managers and umpires thrashed out the result over calculators.

NZC operations manager John Reid said the International Cricket Council was revisiting the six-run penalty clause.

The new rule would be exempted from the playing regulations in the upcoming ODI series between New Zealand and Pakistan.

"I think they [the ICC] saw the potential for a public relations disaster and decided to have another look at it."