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Phillip Hughes has passed away at the age of 25

Meth

Moderator
Staff member
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35,736
Sickening incident. Freak accident. Every cricketer knows that this sort of incident is a possibility, especially when playing at the elite level against elite opposition. Hope he pulls through ok...that goes without saying.

BTW- a really decent interview with Ewen Chatfield today on NZ radio, touching on the psychology of coming back from an incident like this. Ewen was knocked out and nearly killed by a bouncer from an English fast bowler and then came back to play a lot of cricket for NZ. Obviously, first thing's first for Hughes- but there is hope of seeing the bloke playing top level cricket again.
 

Meth

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35,736
Not saying the bouncer should be banned. Just saying, as shit as this is, accidents happen in sport, no matter how much protection you have on.
 

JJ

Immortal
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32,588
The Chatfield incident is the only one I can recall similar - show how remote the possibilities are, largely I guess because of the quality of the athletes - from what I understand Abbott's hardly express, neither was Lever - just terrible luck...

Hughes is getting great care, so we just hope that he makes a good recovery...
 

hineyrulz

Post Whore
Messages
153,770
I went through junior ranks without ever wearing a helmet because I just didn't feel comfortable. I was never really forced to. I also never had a proper coach so I was never taught technique on how to handle short deliveries.

About two months ago (start of this season) I called it quits on Cricket, it was a mixture of a lot of things, the heat mainly, but I was becoming completely anxious every delivery because i felt it could happen to me at any stage. I only play in a small local comp that is, if you ask the players, 'just fun', but they still bowl bouncers that whiz past my head.

from a starting age, Helmets should be compulsory or bouncers should be canned.

Im wishing Hughes all the best, a great talent and im sure he'll pull through.
pretty sure in most junior Leagues helmets are compulsory. I never wore a helmet either when I played, I copped a few nasty blows to the head and face. I think back now gee what an idiot I was.
 

Twizzle

Administrator
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153,342
Had an interesting convo with my wife tonight about whether this will bring about a redesign of cricket helmets. It's a freak accident, for it to miss bat, grill and helmet.

That footage of him looking shaky on his feet and then just dropping is terrible to see. Praying.

Cricket Australia are holding an investigation into the suitability and safety of the current helmet designs.
 

Sphagnum

Coach
Messages
13,073
Love him or hate him as a batsman, this is very sad and I hope he pulls through ok. Freak accident and prayers go out to Hughes and his family.
 
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14,841
pretty sure in most junior Leagues helmets are compulsory. I never wore a helmet either when I played, I copped a few nasty blows to the head and face. I think back now gee what an idiot I was.

They weren't when I was a kid. I finished up juniors 14 years ago.
 

Twizzle

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153,342
All our juniors wear them although its not compulsory.

I never wore one, cant bat with them on, just not used to it, only ever got hit once and got 4 byes.
 

hineyrulz

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Messages
153,770
All our juniors wear them although its not compulsory.

I never wore one, cant bat with them on, just not used to it, only ever got hit once and got 4 byes.
Depends where you play I suppose, most clubs and schools that bought of us made in compulsory to wear a helmet. Which is s good idea get the kids used to playing with them early and it won't be such a big deal when they do really need them.
 

JoeD

First Grade
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7,056
Cricket Australia are holding an investigation into the suitability and safety of the current helmet designs.

Good, never mind this incident, i find it ridiculous that the balls find their way through the grill on a regular basis
 

AlwaysGreen

Post Whore
Messages
50,445
If it's not compulsory for kids it should be. CA should be supplying them to kits around the country.

It's not just about bouncers in junior cricket but I'd reckon you'd get a lot more (unintentional) beamers as well.

It's not like their heroes in international cricket don't wear them.
 
Messages
14,841
If it's not compulsory for kids it should be. CA should be supplying them to kits around the country.

It's not just about bouncers in junior cricket but I'd reckon you'd get a lot more (unintentional) beamers as well.

It's not like their heroes in international cricket don't wear them.

I can't say I disagree with this.
 

Twizzle

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Good, never mind this incident, i find it ridiculous that the balls find their way through the grill on a regular basis

It was a result of Ben Rorher's injury about a week back and a week later he is still suffering and unable to play in this game. No doubt the Hughes incident with strengthen the need for this inquiry.

Where I play its not compulsory for kids to wear them basically because if it is, we the club have to pay for them as parents cant afford them and the club cannot afford them.

All our players are insured though, so I guess it will only be a matter of time before the insurance companies make it compulsory.
 

madunit

Super Moderator
Staff member
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62,358
It was a result of Ben Rorher's injury about a week back and a week later he is still suffering and unable to play in this game. No doubt the Hughes incident with strengthen the need for this inquiry.

Where I play its not compulsory for kids to wear them basically because if it is, we the club have to pay for them as parents cant afford them and the club cannot afford them.

All our players are insured though, so I guess it will only be a matter of time before the insurance companies make it compulsory.

The insurance companies won't make it compulsory first.

They'll jack up the cost of the premium first.

Then they'll demand all batsmen wear helmets.

They aren't going to be responsible without picking up extra cash first.
 

unbreaK

Juniors
Messages
1,014
http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8933135

"The ball is small so the actual pressure is like a bullet effect," Sydney University's Dr Edouard Ferdinands told News Limited.

"People think it's only a ball — that's an illusion. Where he was hit is the spot where there is some crucial brain matter."

"It doesn’t matter if it is a skiing accident like Schumacher's, or football, motorcycling, parachuting or falling off a horse — it is why we wear helmets," he told the Herald Sun.

"The brain comes right down to the upper part of your neck, so when you get a fracture with bleeding underneath it can cause enormous pressure to build up in the spinal canal and go up into the brain.

"The danger to Phil Hughes would be a combination of bleeding into the upper part of the spinal cord from the fracture," he said.

"The reason he needs ventilating in the induced coma is to reduce the oxygen requirements to his brain, and therefore he has more chance of avoiding brain damage."

Doesn't sound great..
 

steggz

Juniors
Messages
1,410
The ball getting through the grille is due to batsmen widening the gap to increase their field of vision.

Most associations make it compulsory for juniors to wear helmets. It happened in Sutherland (my old stomping ground) about 12 years ago. My brother losing 3/4 of one of his front teeth as an 8 year old just getting behind a ball that bounced on him (as happens with younger kids) was one of the last injuries before it became compulsory. I made a kid's nose bleed in the under 10's, bowling spin, with one that kicked up just a little more than normal.
 

Danish

Referee
Messages
32,018
Pretty hard to protect the side of the neck with a helmet.


They've managed to do it for ice hockey goalie helmets without too much trouble. They have a fairly full range of movement in their helmets as well.

The ball getting through the grill fairly regularly definitive proof that the helmets are useless in their current design. They could install visors on them (ala ice hockey) to protect their faces while still offering complete field of vision, or just extend the grill right to the top of the helmet. Honestly having played ice hockey and in line hockey as a teen you never notice the grill over your eyes anyway.
 

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