A matter for concern

The death of Phil Hughes, three days before what would have been his 26th birthday, has left the cricketing world shattered. In an induced coma after being hit on the head by a bouncer during a first-class Sheffield Shield match in Sydney on Tuesday, the Australian batsman succumbed to his injuries on Thursday. All Sheffield Shield matches in play were abandoned, as was the second day of the Test between Pakistan and New Zealand in Sharjah, offering a sense of how acutely the tragedy was felt across the cricketing community. The game, stripped of its relevance for the moment, had to pause. Hughes was that rare modern-day cricketer, a competitor genuinely liked rather than merely respected. Despite his prodigious rise from a banana farm in New South Wales to the stardom of Test cricket — where, just 20, he made twin centuries in a famous win in South Africa — Hughes, by all accounts, retained an unaffected, self-effacing air. The reactions that poured in captured the shock of a people struggling to come to terms with the freakishness of it all. As sports physician Peter Larkins told The Australian , “It’s really a matter of millimetres and the bad luck of the actual site of the impact.’’

It’s too early to estimate the effect of the incident on cricket’s future. For the present, in the immediate aftermath, everything else pales into insignificance. But it has made the game and everyone who plays and follows it more keenly aware of the very real danger the cricket ball represents. So well-armoured and protected by modern gear made of new material does the batsman and the close-in fielder appear these days that fatalities on the field of play seem inconceivable. As former England captain Michael Vaughan wrote in

The Telegraph (U.K.), “With all the equipment and protection we have nowadays I never felt that anything drastic … could happen to me.” And for the most part, protective equipment holds up very well and continues to improve. But as helmet-maker Masuri admitted, last year’s model, which Hughes was wearing, does not offer as much protection to the back of the head and the neck as their latest helmets. There will no doubt be a review of helmet design and an increased emphasis on helmets in junior cricket, welcome steps both. The psychological aspect will be harder to address. Sean Abbott, who delivered the ball to Hughes, has been offered professional support and counselling by Cricket Australia, as have all others who have requested it. But when Australia and India begin their Test series next month, a series Hughes was a contender to play in, what reaction will the first bouncer evoke? Cricket may not be the carefree game again, even with new, space age protective gear.