The talented young bowler had broken into the first team at his club. But the Youth Coordinator insisted to the 1^st XI captain that he only bowled 7 overs in his spell because of the Bowling Directives.

Everything was fine until the day he bowled a destructive spell before having to be whipped off when he was in full flow.

Senior players muttered about the rules, saying it was a pointless exercise that would cost games.

The only person happy about it was the batsman struggling against the star seamer.

It’s a common story, and in the heat of battle it’s understandable that you want to keep your best bowler doing his job.

But in 2005 a study was published that showed why you have to look at the big picture.

Young fast bowlers were tracked, comparing how much they bowl to how many times they got injured. It turned out that the more they bowled, they more likely they were to get injured. As little as 8 overs a day was enough to make a difference.

To me it shows something very simple; If he is injured it doesn’t matter how good your star teenage bowler is. He will never take a wicket when he isn’t playing.

So it may hurt the captain at the time, and it may be overcautious, but it’s better to keep your bowler on the park - bowling slightly less overs - than to use a 2^nd XI player.

Use your planning skills and treat it as another restriction and before long you won’t even notice he’s got too old to be restricted anyway.