What is retired hurt in cricket
Cricket is a globally recognized sport that has been born out of England and has now seeped into various parts of the world such as the Indian subcontinent, Australia, South Africa, and West Indies. This exciting game centers around two teams, wherein each team takes its turn to bat and score runs while the other team tries to prevent them by bowling and fielding. Over time, cricket has developed several terminologies unique to itself that enhances strategic gameplay. One such term is ‘Retired Hurt’ – a stipulation not seen often but holds significant rules for players during their gameplay.
Understanding Retired Hurt
In cricket, when a batsman gets injured during his innings and cannot continue playing immediately due to pain or discomfort, he/she can leave the playing area with the consent from umpires, without being got out: this condition known as ‘Retire Hurt’. A batsman who retires hurt is allowed to resume his innings at any later stage in the match if they recover from injury and feel fit enough to play.
The concept of retired hurt helps maintain a fair spirit in cricket where physical safety of the players comes before everything else. It offers an opportunity for players to take necessary rest, avail medical attention if required and return back on-field only when physically comfortable.
History behind Retired Hurt
The first recorded instance of retired hurt was observed back in 1870 when John Platts of Derbyshire suffered severe pain in rheumatism restricting him to continue batting against Lancashire. This lead the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), custodians of Laws of Cricket, to introduce “retirement” within law 2 (batsman’s innings) providing relief for those players who are incapacitated due to illness or injuries.
Similarly in history, famous opener Graham Gooch had a bad fall while going for a run-out during a Test match in 1991. Unfortunately, after scoring just two runs he injured himself and was forced to ‘retire hurt’. However, upon recovery Gooch came back with a strong performance by ending up that innings at an impressive score of 154 not out.
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Rules concerning Retired Hurt
The rules surrounding retired hurt are detailed within the Laws of Cricket – law 25 specifically discusses about ‘a batsman retiring’ During a team’s batting innings, if one player retires or is out, another teammate can replace him until all eleven have batted.
A batsman who has retired hurt can continue from where they left off anytime during the remainder of the innings. But this can only occur once all other members on his team have completed their batting runs (unless another person on the team has also decided to retire hurt).
An important aspect to remember here is that for a batsman returning after being retired hurt, it’s not considered as a new innings but rather continuation of his previous pause. This means any personal penalties applied before retirement such as warnings against running on the pitch will still be valid when play resumes.
In case not able to Return
In certain unfortunate situations, a player might turn out to be so seriously injured or unwell that they cannot return for the rest of the match. In these cases, they are stated as ‘Retired – Not Out’ in final scoreboard. If everyone else is dismissed or other batsmen also retire but recovers quicker than first retired batsman then inning closer will count this type of “retirement” as an “out” for purposes of calculating averages.
In conclusion, while cricket calls for immense physical stamina and skill set, its humanistic laws like ‘retrieved hurt’, show why it is often termed ‘Gentleman’s Game.’ After all ensuring welfare and safety alongside intense rivalries makes not only cricket but any sport much more appealing and respectful to its audience.
