Courtesy the set of pacers that they had in their ranks, West Indies once used to rule world cricket. They won the first two editions of World Cups and also made it to the final of 1983 WC. The presence of Courtney Walsh, Joel Garner, Patrick Patterson, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding and others made West Indies a mighty force in the 19th century. Their bowling unit had the capability to dismantle any batsman with their pace and bounce.
Recalling the success of the West Indies team, Daren Sammy, who has been quite vocal of late, has claimed that the bouncer rule was introduced to curb the success of the black players. It was in 1991 that the apex board introduced the rule which allowed bowlers to bowl one boncer per over. In 1994, bowlers were given permission to bowl two bouncers.
The rule was altered in 2001, according to which the bowlers were allowed to bowl just one bouncer. 11 years later, the bowlers were once again given the licence to bowl two bouncers per over.
“Looking at the Fire in Babylon, looking at when (Jeff) Thomson and (Dennis) Lillee and all these guys were bowling quick and hurting people. Then I watch a black team becoming so dominant and then you see the bouncer rule start to come in and all these things start to come in and I take it, as I understand it, as this is just trying to limit the success a black team could have. I might be wrong but that’s how I see it. And the system should not allow that,” Sammy told Inside Out.
