The Gooner Forum

Australia test batsman Phil Hughes has had emergency surgery after being hit by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield game. He collapsed and had to be revived on the pitch before being transferred to hospital where he remains in a critical condition.

The pictures I've seen show the ball striking Hughes square at the base of the skull as he turned to try and hook the delivery.

Shocking really as in this age of helmets and limited bouncers per over it seems an age away from the devastating quicks of old beaming helmetless batsman with no restrictions. I would have expected more of these sort of injuries in the 70s & 80s but not nowadays.

Very sad news and I wish Mr Hughes a speedy recovery and extend my best wishes to his family.

.

Thoughts and best wishes to Phil and his family/friends

Died this morning, R.I.P

Saw the footage on TV he was gone before he hit the floor poor bloke.

RIP Phil

I'm a shit batsman (quite a good bowler though) and I always wore a helmet when batting because I was prone to the occasional top edge. I'm amazed that his helmet didn't offer him more protection than that. This will result in new rules in the game about bouncers etc. which in honesty is not a bad thing. I am a bit of a purist when it comes to cricket and believe that you should be bowling the ball to try and hit the stumps. You can't do that when the ball is 6ft plus in the air! The modern game has evolved though and it has become a legitimate method of attack in the hope that the batsman gets an edge or gloves it off to a slip fielder.

Thoughts are with this guys family and with the bowler too. RIP.

Just heard, very sad news.

RIP

Tragic way to die. Poor guy. RIP.

My thoughts are also with the guy that bowled it. He must be devestated.

DB10GOONER wrote:Tragic way to die. Poor guy. RIP.

My thoughts are also with the guy that bowled it. He must be devestated.

True.

Similar to a boxer who kills/seriously injures someone in the ring, never the same. I wonder if he'll ever even bowl again. Very sad all round.

SPUDMASHER wrote:I'm a shit batsman (quite a good bowler though) and I always wore a helmet when batting because I was prone to the occasional top edge. I'm amazed that his helmet didn't offer him more protection than that. This will result in new rules in the game about bouncers etc. which in honesty is not a bad thing. I am a bit of a purist when it comes to cricket and believe that you should be bowling the ball to try and hit the stumps. You can't do that when the ball is 6ft plus in the air! The modern game has evolved though and it has become a legitimate method of attack in the hope that the batsman gets an edge or gloves it off to a slip fielder.

Thoughts are with this guys family and with the bowler too. RIP.

rip hughesy and thoughts with abbott too.

however if bouncers are gone then imo thats the game. the game is weighted so much in the batsmens favour now bouncers will even less arm bolwers.

bring back uncovered pitchs and limit bat sizes/technology fine ban bouncers, but not now.

they are not part of the games original values but are now part of the fabric of the game.

this is shocking and tragic, but all sport, especillay top level sport where it is so intense carries significant risks, and that is part of what makes it sport.

this tragedy is a freak event. it could happen in any sport where hard projectiles are used or there is contact between players. to ban bouncers because of one freak incident is a step too far imo.

its awful for the family and the bowler but this is the first time in professional game this has happened i think.

SPUDMASHER wrote:I'm a shit batsman (quite a good bowler though) and I always wore a helmet when batting because I was prone to the occasional top edge. I'm amazed that his helmet didn't offer him more protection than that. This will result in new rules in the game about bouncers etc. which in honesty is not a bad thing. I am a bit of a purist when it comes to cricket and believe that you should be bowling the ball to try and hit the stumps. You can't do that when the ball is 6ft plus in the air! The modern game has evolved though and it has become a legitimate method of attack in the hope that the batsman gets an edge or gloves it off to a slip fielder.

Thoughts are with this guys family and with the bowler too. RIP.

Wasnt a blow to the head, was just under the helmet on his neck it broke an artery and flooded his brain with blood

the playing mantis wrote:

SPUDMASHER wrote:I'm a shit batsman (quite a good bowler though) and I always wore a helmet when batting because I was prone to the occasional top edge. I'm amazed that his helmet didn't offer him more protection than that. This will result in new rules in the game about bouncers etc. which in honesty is not a bad thing. I am a bit of a purist when it comes to cricket and believe that you should be bowling the ball to try and hit the stumps. You can't do that when the ball is 6ft plus in the air! The modern game has evolved though and it has become a legitimate method of attack in the hope that the batsman gets an edge or gloves it off to a slip fielder.

Thoughts are with this guys family and with the bowler too. RIP.

rip hughesy and thoughts with abbott too.

however if bouncers are gone then imo thats the game. the game is weighted so much in the batsmens favour now bouncers will even less arm bolwers.

bring back uncovered pitchs and limit bat sizes/technology fine ban bouncers, but not now.

they are not part of the games original values but are now part of the fabric of the game.

this is shocking and tragic, but all sport, especillay top level sport where it is so intense carries significant risks, and that is part of what makes it sport.

this tragedy is a freak event. it could happen in any sport where hard projectiles are used or there is contact between players. to ban bouncers because of one freak incident is a step too far imo.

its awful for the family and the bowler but this is the first time in professional game this has happened i think.

I know it sounds a dreadful thing to say in the context of this tragedy but it could ruin the game, certainly in the short-term. How is short-pitched bowling going to be regarded in the upcoming World Cup? It's certainly a tactic that has become far more integral in international cricket in recent years (and a largely boring and frustrating one) but removing it completely changes the game.

I heard today that there had only ever been 100-odd cases of the artery rupturing in such a way? Sounds like the sort of bollocks people talk mind. It sounds a bit silly to say it was a freak accident when somebody is hurling a rock-hard ball at 90mph often flashing around throat/head height but that's the reality.

northbank123 wrote:I heard today that there had only ever been 100-odd cases of the artery rupturing in such a way? Sounds like the sort of bollocks people talk mind. It sounds a bit silly to say it was a freak accident when somebody is hurling a rock-hard ball at 90mph often flashing around throat/head height but that's the reality.

Me too, and apparently 2 of those were cricket-related.

Just a horrible, freak accident. I don't think chin music will be clamped doen on, but perhaps bowlers will naturally dial their aggression down.

For a while at least anyway.

Fucking gutted about this, genuinely felt he was going to be a massive player for us in the future. Can't imagine the shock his family is going through, and how utterly broken Sean Abbott must be.

Awful, RIP.

I agree about not banning bouncers, the trauma that killed him is so rare that there are only 100 recorded instances of people dying that way. A key artery leading to his brain was damaged causing hemorrhaging and it is only the second time it has happened on a cricket pitch in the history of the game.

However, once again the grief porn on social meeja doesn't fit well with me. I'm sure it is all well meaning but it comes across as feeling like a bit of a competition to see who can post the most poignant thing about a guy they do not know on any real level. It also feels a bit like Sean Abbott is being forced into feeling massively guilty, I'm sure he does anyway but all this talk of whether he can ever play cricket again is hardly helpful. I guess it's impossible to say if you're not in his shoes but I like to think I'd eventually be able to recognise that all I'd done is bowl a ball that I'd bowled thousands of times before.