Atherton tells umpires to protect England tail from 'bodyline'

Umpires should invoke cricket's laws and protect England's tailenders from Australia's relentless "bodyline" bowling in the ongoing Ashes series, former England captain Michael Atherton has said. Australia have reclaimed the urn with an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match Test series, their fiery pace battery of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins singeing England's frontline batsmen in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. The pace trio have not spared the tailenders. England's No 10 batsman Jake Ball was subjected to a bouncer barrage in the Brisbane opener and No 11 James Anderson suffered a sickening blow to the side of his helmet in the third Test at Perth.

Mike Atherton calls for umpires to protect England tail from 'bodyline' Aussie bowling: https://t.co/mayp3xTHzY #Ashes pic.twitter.com/mGDPVWug4Z

— FOX SPORTS Cricket (@FOXCricketLive) December 20, 2017

Atherton conceded Australia were clearly the better team and that any side with such ammunition would have attacked the tailenders for practical and psychological reasons. "That said, I did wonder aloud at the time why the umpires were so reluctant to act to protect Ball," Atherton wrote in the Times newspaper. The law states that short pitched bowling is dangerous if the umpire considers it likely to inflict physical injury when measured against a batsman's skill. "Test cricket or not, the Law and the playing conditions are there to protect batsmen incapable of protecting themselves," Atherton added.

Really enjoying the increasingly silly articles on the Ashes from England. An umpire surely can't rule a tail ender is "incompetent" or unskilled if they are a highly paid professional athlete picked for one of the top ranked teams in the world? https://t.co/A8LYe0F11I @thetimes

— James Glenday (@jamesglenday) December 21, 2017

"Cricket is an odd game in that it has three distinct disciplines and, within that, you have the unusual situation where someone who is totally useless in one area can face a world-class performer in another — with potentially harmful consequences. "Batsmen who cannot bowl are not required to bowl to great players, but the opposite is obviously the case — precisely why the Law is framed as it is, as built-in protection for the incompetent. "No one wants to see the game sanitised, but the Law is there for a reason. The umpires should make use of it," added Atherton, who played 115 Tests between 1989-2001. Australia captain Steve Smith found Atherton's claims "a bit over the top."

Really good piece by @Athersmike on Law 41.6 - incompetent batsmen must be protected under the Laws, and rarely are https://t.co/JwgLvbxf05

— Jonny Singer (@Jonny_Singer) December 21, 2017

"No doubt, if they had the kind of pace that our bowlers can generate, they'd probably do the same thing," Smith said at Melbourne Park where he had a hit with tennis' former world No 3 Milos Raonic. "We were (always) going to bowl a lot of short stuff to those guys, much like we did back in 2013." Smith returned a few of Canadian Raonic's serves but struggled with one aimed at his body. "Now I know how Jimmy Anderson feels," joked Smith, the leading scorer of the ongoing series which resumes in Melbourne Tuesday.