ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Former fast bowler and cricketing legend Sir Curtly Ambrose believes the rule that restricts bowlers to only two short-pitched deliveries per over should be revisited.The former West Indies pacer, who is currently the team’s bowling consultant, said it takes away from the excitement involved in a good rivalry between batsman and bowler.

“I believe that if a bowler is overdoing the short ball, then the umpire should step in and say, ‘space it out’.
“But how could you be bowling to a batsman who can play the short ball very well, hit you out the park twice and then you as a fast bowler, you can’t do (anything)? You have to go back to bowling the length ball and wait until the next over, and to me that takes away the excitement,” he said.
“I said so before and I will say again, there is no better excitement in cricket than a great fast bowler against a great batsman who can take you on,” he added.
The rule, which first came about in 1991, was first referred to as the “bouncer rule” and its job was to restrict the bowler to one bouncer per over per batsman.
In the beginning, it was an “experimental” rule, and in 1994 it was turned into what we see in the current law book.
The current law states that a bowler shall be limited to two fast short-pitched deliveries per over. A fast short-pitched delivery is defined as a ball which passes or would have passed above the shoulder height of the striker standing upright at the popping crease.
However, Sir Curtly said he is focused on improving the crop of fast bowlers currently under his tutelage.
“Obviously, it’s not going to happen overnight. Sometimes, it’s frustrating because you speak to them all the time and explain certain things and they understand, but somewhere along the line they stray away from the script and that sort of thing but I have to be patient. Of course, I want to see results overnight, really, but I am a realist and it’s going to take some time,” he said.
In November of last year, Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes died in hospital, in Sydney, two days after the international batsman was struck on the head by a ball during a domestic match. (Antigua Observer)