Phil Hughes hit by a bouncer, in a coma

nwgull · Nov 25, 2014

bobby baxter said:
Have to ask the question, is it time to outlaw the bouncer?

Understand fast bowlers will say its a legitimate delivery, I dont think that outweighs the dangers.

No. Part of cricket's appeal is the attritional nature of bowler v batsman and the fact that getting hit by a fast ball can hurt. Such a bad injury is a freak occurrence - I can't think of any other incident where a batsman has been so badly hurt - and outlawing intimidating bowling would be overkill.

maltaseagull · Nov 25, 2014

Scoffers said:
I cannot ever see them outlawing the bouncer, but maybe they need to improve the helmet protection

True but there will always be some margin of risk. Stuart Broad got a ball in the face last summer despite wearing a helmet and surely they are designed so that a ball cannot get through that gap?
Look at how much is done in F1 for safety and then a freak accident occurs and Jules Bianchi is badly injured.

Mattywerewolf · Nov 25, 2014

Truly Shocking incident. Really hope everything ends well here. Cricket is a far less dangerous sport than many others (motorsport, horse riding, rugby, boxing). If anything the helmet needs a slight redesign, but thankfully these incidents are very rare. Outlawing bouncers won't happen. After the body line series this was considered but eventually common sense prevailed and they moved to max of 2 an over. I remember at school facing bouncers with no helmet...In retrospect absolute madness!

LamieRobertson · Nov 25, 2014

Mattywerewolf said:
Truly Shocking incident. Really hope everything ends well here. Cricket is a far less dangerous sport than many others (motorsport, horse riding, rugby, boxing). If anything the helmet needs a slight redesign, but thankfully these incidents are very rare. Outlawing bouncers won't happen. After the body line series this was considered but eventually common sense prevailed and they moved to max of 2 an over. I remember at school facing bouncers with no helmet...In retrospect absolute madness!

Nicely summed up

BBassic · Nov 25, 2014

Jesus, hope he comes through this quickly.

Looks like it might have gone under the guard, hit him under the chin?

Guy Fawkes · Nov 25, 2014

I was just listening to the news on the radio about this and they were interviewing someone (a journalist who was at the ground i think) about it and they said that at first they thought the delivery had hit the helmet but it now turns out that it hit him under the helmet as he turned his head away (a freak occurance)

Hughes had undergone surgery to relieve the pressure from internal bleeding in the brain yesterday and was taken to the ICU. The quite alarming thing he said was that he had spoken to the hospital about 20 minutes ago and they described his condition as one that had very recently worsened.

Hoping he makes a full and speedy recovery

Arkwright · Nov 25, 2014

MacKenzie said:
It pitched on a good length, it just got up, I think that is probably why it became a problem as he had no time to react. No time to set himself for the short pitcher.

I don't think that is the case, he is trying to hook / pull it, he looks well set just missed it.

Sadly it's all become part of the game, quick bowlers don't bowl at the stumps anymore and try to get wickets by bowling into the body. Maybe the rule change should be in direction of deliveries and not length / bouncers.

Lower West Stander · Nov 25, 2014

I'm not sure how you could redesign a helmet to prevent this.

Covering the neck would restrict head movement which would be just as dangerous. I'm sure things can be improved a bit but you would never be able to take the risk away altogether.

Stumpy Tim · Nov 25, 2014

Arkwright said:
I don't think that is the case, he is trying to hook / pull it, he looks well set just missed it.

Sadly it's all become part of the game, quick bowlers don't bowl at the stumps anymore and try to get wickets by bowling into the body. Maybe the rule change should be in direction of deliveries and not length / bouncers.

This has been around for decades, and this is the first very serious issue. Sport is often slightly dangerous - maybe we should ban all sports so no one gets hurt ever? And we could ban driving, cycling and walking on cobbled stones. Maybe we could enforce a law that everyone needs to walk around with cotton wool all the time.

Phil Hughes goes into cricket knowing the opponent is trying to hurt him - that's part of the psychology of cricket. Take away that and we may as well pack up the game

hans kraay fan club · Nov 25, 2014

Stumpy Tim said:
This has been around for decades, and this is the first very serious issue. Sport is often slightly dangerous - maybe we should ban all sports so no one gets hurt ever? And we could ban driving, cycling and walking on cobbled stones. Maybe we could enforce a law that everyone needs to walk around with cotton wool all the time.

Phil Hughes goes into cricket knowing the opponent is trying to hurt him - that's part of the psychology of cricket. Take away that and we may as well pack up the game

That.

Horrible times for Hughes, but the game isn't to blame. It's a freak occurrence.

dazzer6666 · Nov 25, 2014

Stumpy Tim said:
This has been around for decades, and this is the first very serious issue. Sport is often slightly dangerous - maybe we should ban all sports so no one gets hurt ever? And we could ban driving, cycling and walking on cobbled stones. Maybe we could enforce a law that everyone needs to walk around with cotton wool all the time.

Phil Hughes goes into cricket knowing the opponent is trying to hurt him - that's part of the psychology of cricket. Take away that and we may as well pack up the game

I agree. Very sad and I really hope he is OK, but it's an extremely rare occurrence so I'd hope there is no knee-jerk reaction. I've had teeth knocked out and knocked others teeth out playing cricket (back in the 80s almost no-one wore helmets at the standard I played) but thankfully nothing this dreadful. From what I have seen and heard the ball seems to have hit him just behind the ear, below the helmet.If the grille was extended to cover this the batsman wouldn't be able to get side on and looking over his shoulder.

Arkwright · Nov 25, 2014

Stumpy Tim said:
This has been around for decades, and this is the first very serious issue. Sport is often slightly dangerous - maybe we should ban all sports so no one gets hurt ever? And we could ban driving, cycling and walking on cobbled stones. Maybe we could enforce a law that everyone needs to walk around with cotton wool all the time.

Phil Hughes goes into cricket knowing the opponent is trying to hurt him - that's part of the psychology of cricket. Take away that and we may as well pack up the game

I totally agree, however it often takes an incident like this for the authorities to take a serious look at the rules. Watching Mitchell Johnson scare out tail enders with well directed body line and the odd Yorker isn't good cricket, yes it's effective and within the laws but it doesn't make for a good or fair contest.

All sportsmen and women know that once you cross the white line their is a chance of injury and yes it's all part of the sport but try to hurt your opponent is that really part of the game, to coin a phrase "it's just not cricket".

Stumpy Tim · Nov 25, 2014

Arkwright said:
but try to hurt your opponent is that really part of the game

Yes, yes it is. Always has been. The idea is to push the batsman further back into the crease, making it easier to bowl him.

Guinness Boy · Nov 26, 2014

Stumpy Tim said:
Yes, yes it is. Always has been. The idea is to push the batsman further back into the crease, making it easier to bowl him.

Or get them caught on the boundary. Simon Hughes tells in his book "A Lot of Hard Yakka" how Mike Brearly instructed him to give Derek Randall, a compulsive hooker of the ball a short ball early on. Lo and behold he was caught on the boundary. Brearly then told anyone who would listen that had been the plan all along and yet they got Randall out exactly the same way in the second innings!

TomandJerry · Nov 27, 2014

"Australia Test batsman Phillip Hughes has died aged 25, two days after being struck on the top of the neck by a ball during a domestic match in Sydney.

Australia team doctor Peter Brukner said he passed away in hospital, never regaining consciousness.

Hughes, who also played for Hampshire, Middlesex and Worcestershire, was hit by a delivery from bowler Sean Abbott.

"It's an understatement to say we're completely devastated," said Cricket Australia boss James Sutherland.

"The word tragedy gets used too often in sport, but this freak accident is a real life tragedy."

R.I.P.

Titanic · Nov 27, 2014

Arkwright said:
...All sportsmen and women know that once you cross the white line their is a chance of injury and yes it's all part of the sport but try to hurt your opponent is that really part of the game, to coin a phrase "it's just not cricket".

Try telling that to Australian captain Michael Clarke, when Mitch Johnson was bowling at 90+MPH, who greeted England's number 11 'batsman' Jimmy Anderson to the crease in the First Test at Brisbane with the cheery greeting 'get ready for a ****ing broken arm'.

sydney · Nov 27, 2014

sad ,sudden , immediate, shocking.......here one minute , gone the next........extremely unlucky....R.I.P. :down:

Bold Seagull · Nov 27, 2014

I don't think many, if any bowlers actually look to hurt a batsmen.

Yes, they bowl to intimidate, rough them up, but never actually properly hurt someone. The contradictory nature of bowlers is all that 'chin music' and aggression is to get the batsmen out, most are horrified when they actually hit someone, especially on the head, even if they've been aiming for their head over after over. You want the batsmen swaying, the ball missing them by mm, but you never actually want to cause them any injury.

Philip Hughes is a tragedy, an unlucky man at the top of his sport and crushing for all his friends and family. The other one who will suffer greatly is Sean Abbott, who despite bowling a 90mph bouncer at the batsmen head, would never have had the actual intent of hitting or hurting the batsmen. He will need some serious support around him, and will remain to be seen if he's able to bowl competitively again.

dazzer6666 · Nov 27, 2014

Titanic said:
Try telling that to Australian captain Michael Clarke, when Mitch Johnson was bowling at 90+MPH, who greeted England's number 11 'batsman' Jimmy Anderson to the crease in the First Test at Brisbane with the cheery greeting 'get ready for a ****ing broken arm'.

Think there is a difference between sledging and a genuine intent to hurt personally.

Bold Seagull · Nov 27, 2014

dazzer6666 said:
Think there is a difference between sledging and a genuine intent to hurt personally.

Exactly. Intimidation, aggression etc. are very different to actually wanting to hurt someone. No one on a cricket pitch is playing with an actual 'intent' to hurt anybody.

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