ICC Rules
Because of the potential danger to batsmen of being hit and to stop bowlers bowling bouncers all the time, there are laws in the Laws of Cricket governing how frequently a bowler may bowl bouncers, as well as how many fielders may field backward of square leg. These laws take into account the relative skill of the batsmen.
During the 1970s to 1980s, bouncers were used as part of a team's intimidatory tactics, especially by the West Indies team. In 1991, the International Cricket Council introduced a "one bouncer per batsman per over" rule in an attempt to discourage use of intimidation. However, the ruling was not well received by players and umpires alike, with English umpire Dickie Bird describing it as "farcical" as he felt that calling intimidatory tactics should be left to the umpire. The ICC changed it to two bouncers per over in 1994 before changing it again to one bouncer per over in 2001.
On October 29, 2012 The International Cricket Council made amendments on bouncers in ODIs. The ICC also announced an increase in the number of permissible short balls (above shoulder and below head height) in an over in One-Day Internationals. There was no change to the bouncer rule for the Tests or Twenty20 Internationals.
Read more about this topic: Bouncer (cricket)
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