Phillip Hughes has passed away at the age of 25

[Bazal]

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.

Helmets were compulsory when I was a kid, and I started playing 20 years ago. We also used rubber balls until U15 level. This is a freak accident, banning bouncers at junior level is no answer. If anything it could lead to more batsmen being hit as they never develop the ability to play them.

 

[Bazal]

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.

Balls get through because the grill is adjustable. I'm one who has a very wide gap between peak and grill because the grill messes with y vision if it's too tight. It's a choice, not a fault

 

[Danish]

Helmets were compulsory when I was a kid, and I started playing 20 years ago. We also used rubber balls until U15 level. This is a freak accident, banning bouncers at junior level is no answer. If anything it could lead to more batsmen being hit as they never develop the ability to play them.

The talk is about banning them at all levels, not just junior level. They've already restricted the amount of bouncers allowed to be bowled per over, so it would be an evolution of that rule basically.

You'd have to think helmet design would be the first thing changed though rather than banning the move outright. Honestly the helmet design in cricket is woeful relative to other sports that mandate their use, so they have plenty of room for improvement there before fundamentally changing the game.

 

[Danish]

Balls get through because the grill is adjustable. I'm one who has a very wide gap between peak and grill because the grill messes with y vision if it's too tight. It's a choice, not a fault

The fact that you are able to adjust it to fit a ball through is a design fault in itself.

 

[Someone]

Helmets were compulsory when I was a kid, and I started playing 20 years ago. We also used rubber balls until U15 level. This is a freak accident, banning bouncers at junior level is no answer. If anything it could lead to more batsmen being hit as they never develop the ability to play them.

yeah.

I touched on all these issues in my post you quoted.

Helmets weren't required in juniors where I played, or to better word maybe it just wasn't enforced. This would have only been about 9 or so years ago. There is obviously an inconsistent ruling on the issue.

From my memory six stitchers started at u16's. but because of the density of population of where my competition was held, that included players at the age of 13 and above.

obviously banning the bouncer is a stupid answer, but as I said it has to be one way or the other, ban the bouncer or force helmets. The choice is obvious.

I was also hinting that there aren't enough cricket coaches out there to actually teach juniors how to play the short ball, e.g duck, pull shot etc. Which IMO is another health concern.

I wonder how many times this sort of thing has happened to cricket players who aren't big stars?

 

[AlwaysGreen]

The grill design came about because cricket is a summer sport. Anything too enclosed would be too suffocating and hot and if they wore a visor it would always be affected by sweat and condensation.

You can't ban the bouncer in junior cricket because then you take away the ability of kids to learn how to bowl it and how to bat against it. What you can do in junior cricket is to monitor kids who are quick and talented so that they're not pummelling not so skilled kids with bouncers.

 

[WaznTheGreat]

As much as we are all devastated and saddened by this Phil Hughes tragedy and hoping that he pulls through i have to say that banning the bouncer would actually destroy Cricket,when a batsmen is at the crease against pace bowling he is always in two minds as to whether the ball will come flying past there head or come flying in at there toes,if you take away one of those things that the bowler can do than all of a sudden it becomes even easier for the batsmen and as we know Cricket is already a batsmen dominated game with the modern era littered with flat track road pitches and also the fact they have bigger bats,obviously superior/safer helmet designs are a better option than banning the bouncer.


Bigger bats + no bouncer + flat wickets =one sided contest = Cricket destroyed.


0/1000 after day 1 of a Test

 

[Timbo]

The design of the helmet is made worse by fact you reflexively turn your head when the ball is coming at it - exposing the part of your head without protection.

I feel something like this has been a long time coming though. Consider that guys who faced bowlers like Larwood, Lindwall, Hall, Griffith, Miller, etc etc etc never wore a helmet, and they were uncommon in the era of Lillee, Thomson, Holding, Garner, Croft, Willis...

In baseball, helmets have been compulsary since the 1950s, and common since the 1930s - and that's a sport where attacking the head is completely illegal.

In fact I really wouldn't be surprised if this leads to a broader conversation about the bouncer - afterall, how many sports are there in the western world where attacking a players head is a legal move?

 

[TheParraboy]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-26/phillip-hughes-injury-horribly-fluky-occurrence-maxwell/5918288

Phillip Hughes injury: Jim Maxwell says incident one of the worst cricket has ever seen

Updated Wed 26 Nov 2014, 12:15pm

ABC Grandstand chief cricket commentator Jim Maxwell has described Phillip Hughes's injury as a 'horribly fluky' occurrence, saying it is one of the worst the game has ever seen.

Hughes was rushed to hospital after he was struck by a Sean Abbott bouncer and collapsed during a Sheffield Shield match between South Australia and New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground yesterday.

Hughes was taken off the field and received CPR and mouth-to-mouth. The 25-year-old was then taken to St Vincent's Hospital and had surgery to relieve pressure on his brain caused by internal bleeding, before being placed in the hospital's intensive care unit.

Cricket Australia says it is giving New South Wales bowler Abbott counselling over the incident, with Maxwell describing it as a freak occurrence.

"There have been plenty of very bad injuries, but none quite like this," Maxwell said.

"None which appear to be as life threatening, as clearly this was yesterday, with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and lots of work being done to try and compose the situation before he was rushed off to hospital for surgery.

"We're all aware of the dangers that there are in the game, they're ever-present, even with helmets that clearly will in this case have people talking about ... we'll have to do some more redesign work on the helmet.


"It was just one of those horribly, fluky things that can happen in the game. Phillip Hughes has ducked and weaved and hooked many short balls in his illustrious but brief career.

"He's played 26 Test matches, he's been in and out of the side about five times since that extraordinary series in South Africa when he was the youngest player to get 100 in each innings of a Test match.

"I think he was about to be named as Michael Clarke's replacement in the Australian team."

Cricket Australia has announced the current round of Sheffield Shield matches has been abandoned entirely in the wake of Hughes's injury

Messages of support from the cricketing world have continued to stream in for Hughes, as well as unfortunate bowler Abbott, who is reportedly receiving counselling over the incident.

Bloody hell, he needed CPR and mouth to mouth when taken from the field

Abbott must feel like shit, poor bugger

Preying for Phil to pull through this

 

[Danish]

The grill design came about because cricket is a summer sport. Anything too enclosed would be too suffocating and hot and if they wore a visor it would always be affected by sweat and condensation.

You can't ban the bouncer in junior cricket because then you take away the ability of kids to learn how to bowl it and how to bat against it. What you can do in junior cricket is to monitor kids who are quick and talented so that they're not pummelling not so skilled kids with bouncers.

Take your point about the visor fogging up. They could at the very least make the grill extend to cover the entire face though. Honestly when you are looking through a thin grill that close to your face you don't even notice it after about 5 minutes of wearing it.

Agreed that you couldn't ban the bouncer in junior sports only. It has to be a complete ban or none at all.

How different would it make the game if bouncers couldn't go above shoulder height I wonder? To me it would seem to change the game a lot but then again plenty of effective bouncers do actually stay below shoulder height with batsman just ducking into them.

 

[Timbo]

Take your point about the visor fogging up. They could at the very least make the grill extend to cover the entire face though. Honestly when you are looking through a thin grill that close to your face you don't even notice it after about 5 minutes of wearing it.

Agreed that you couldn't ban the bouncer in junior sports only. It has to be a complete ban or none at all.

How different would it make the game if bouncers couldn't go above shoulder height I wonder? To me it would seem to change the game a lot but then again plenty of effective bouncers do actually stay below shoulder height with batsman just ducking into them.

How would you control that though? All it would mean is there would be more no balls by the bowler missing his length by a matter of inches.

I play senior cricket, only park cricket though. We had a play with some speed guns at the SCG one night due to one of our players having a connection there. Our openers when they really bent their backs got it to around 120kph, our change bowlers were more in the 100-115 kph range.

But here's the thing, they are by no means the fastest bowler in our division. And I would say at least half of the 1-7 batsmen in our competition bat in caps. Our opener last year was sent to hospital where he needed 10 stiches in his chin from where he mis-timed a bumper off a bloke who is a genuine medium pacer. I really don't know how we don't see more injuries in this sport of the nature of Hughes.

 

[TheParraboy]

http://www.msn.com/en-au/sport/cricket/hughes-remains-in-coma-wasnt-wearing-latest-model-helmet/ar-BBfHCS5?ocid=mailsignout

Australian cricketer Phil Hughes remains in a coma and surrounded by family after he was hit in the head by a ball during a game at the SCG yesterday.

It has emerged Hughes was not wearing the most up-to-date model of helmet when he was struck on the neck by a bouncer and critically injured while batting for South Australia against New South Wales.

Masuri, the UK-based manufacturer of the helmet worn by Hughes, said in a statement they were seeking as much footage of the incident as possible to be able to see more conclusively exactly where he had been hit.

"From the footage and pictures currently available to Masuri, it appears that Phil Hughes was struck by the ball to the rear of the grille and below the back of the shell, missing his Masuri Original Test model helmet," the company's statement said.

"This is a vulnerable area of the head and neck that helmets cannot fully protect, while enabling batsmen to have full and proper movement."

Masuri said the 2013 edition Hughes was wearing had been superseded by one extra protection in the region where he was hit.

Meanwhile, doctors said it could be up to 48 hours before the full extent of Hughes' injury is known.

In a press conference last night, Australian cricket doctor Dr Peter Brukner said Hughes remains in a critical condition following surgery.

 

[Timbo]

Jeez, I know Masuri have to protect their product but that article is in such poor taste the day after the event.

So if he was wearing your new helmet he'd be fine? Shut up and take my money!

 

[BunniesMan]

There is precedence for a full recovery. West Indian Phil Simmons. His heart stopped, he had brain surgery. He was playing cricket within a year.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/cricket/30198194

 

[Timbo]

Ewen Chatfield nearly died on the field too, went on to play internation cricket for nearly a decade.

But every injury is different.

 

[TheParraboy]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/australia/11253449/Phil-Hughes-latest-Helmet-manufacturer-Masuri-to-study-footage-of-incident-that-left-batsman-in-critical-condition.html

 

[Red Bear]

Banning the bouncer is basically unworkable IMO. Plenty of bowlers would happily cop a no ball for a bouncer if it still does its job of roughing up the batsmen, making them uneasy of where the next ball is going to land etc.

 

[lockyno1]

Take your point about the visor fogging up. They could at the very least make the grill extend to cover the entire face though. Honestly when you are looking through a thin grill that close to your face you don't even notice it after about 5 minutes of wearing it.

Agreed that you couldn't ban the bouncer in junior sports only. It has to be a complete ban or none at all.

How different would it make the game if bouncers couldn't go above shoulder height I wonder? To me it would seem to change the game a lot but then again plenty of effective bouncers do actually stay below shoulder height with batsman just ducking into them.

Typical comment of someone who doesn't play cricket and I'm being generous. This was a freak accident, it happens. This rubbish about banning bouncers is against the notion of cricket- it is the bowlers only weapon to set the batsmen up. Helmets are there, they will never be perfect and people like to wear them differently.

 

[Twizzle]

The helmet manufacturer also said the new design would have not necessarily made any difference to his injury.

 

[lockyno1]

Banning the bouncer is basically unworkable IMO. Plenty of bowlers would happily cop a no ball for a bouncer if it still does its job of roughing up the batsmen, making them uneasy of where the next ball is going to land etc.

Ditto and I would love it when they copped a no ball for it. Big finger to authorities good!