Phillip Hughes dies, aged 25

Fred Nerk wrote:No lardy, according to wiki (yeah I know) he tried to eat a Lever bouncer, I think we know the rest....wasn't pdy a VoR incarnation, which pretty much rules him out as a suspect in this particular 'spot the moron' contest?

Congrats taips, your Brownie points are in the mail.

Thanks.

Red wrote:An ABC tweet understandably caused consternation.

"Cricket NSW could not confirm if Phil Hughes was alive when he left SCG.
ab.co/1xQddgn"

If that was an actual ABC employee, the $254 million cut can be reduced by one wage.

The more I hear about this, the more I think 'David Hookes' and a scenario very similar to 'one punch'.

I really hope the outcome is better, and perhaps even more fervently hope that it is not worse.

lardbucket wrote:Re-reading the Knox piece, and just in the interests of accuracy, wasn't Chatfield struck over the heart, rather than in the head?

you might be thinking of Rick Darling being hit by Willis.

Martin Bedkober was hit near his heart playing first grade in Brisbane.

lardbucket wrote:The more I hear about this, the more I think 'David Hookes' and a scenario very similar to 'one punch'..

especially with the thread title

Best wishes to Hughes and my prayers are with him and his family.

Awful news. Wish he recovers well.

'I STILL HAVE GOOSEBUMPS': WITNESS SPEAKS
Nine News reporter Will Dempsey was watching the match at the ground when Phil Hughes was struck by the ball.
'I have still goosebumps. It was chilling,' Dempsey told Daily Mail Australia.
'There was this crack that echoed through the grounds. It was an eerie feeling, you knew something wasn't right.
'It didn't sound like leather hitting hard metal, it looked like a bouncer crept under his grill.
'Players ran to him as soon as he collapsed face first.
'Brad Haddin rolled Hughes onto his side and doctors were immediately at the grounds.
'Tom Cooper and David Warner stayed by his side for more than half an hour.
They worked on Phil for around 45 minutes.
'There was dead silence at the ground. No one in the stands spoke or move. No one left, unless they were moving closer to Hughes to help.
'Steve O'Keefe came off the ground crying. Hughes was loaded into one of two ambulances. It appeared that the helicopter landed at Paddington Barracks.
'Steve Smith came to the stands, visibly distressed.
'Speaking with Moises Henriques and Mark Waugh, Steve motioned to indicate that Phil had been hit underneath his jawline..
'Sean Abbott, who had bowled to Hughes, was in the dressing room the entire time. Players were comforting each other, many were crying.'
'It was the second ball to hit a player in five overs. It was fast bowling but Abbott's ball to Hughes was a bit sharper than usual.
'The ambulance changed direction to avoid the crowds. People and guards were yelling at people who were trying to take photos of Phil as they loaded him into the ambulance.
'Umpires were shouting 'get away, get away'
'David Warner had been at Phil's side and walked up to his fiancé and daughter in the stands for a warm hug - he was really upset.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-2848353/Australia-Test-cricketer-Phil-Hughes-induced-coma-struck-head-ball-collapsing-pitch.html#ixzz3K5BhHWH8
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Can think of one former NSW Premier who would have known exactly what to do regarding the candid camera crowd....

When a sudden death occurs to a sportsman, present or past, a common statement - perhaps almost a cliche' - is that "it puts it all in perspective".

It's not always clear the perspective lasts long, however.

This is one of those times that gives most people pause. If brief.

Clearly, you can argue it was a fluke: a not particularly express rising ball caught Phil Hughes in a small unprotected spot under the back of the helmet, as he swung (too fast?) to hook it.

But I have to say it reminds me why I dislike what Derek Birley called "the virility cult" that grew up in 19th century cricket. The famous quotes about blood on the pitch, hit you on the heart, crunching bone, etc.  To repeat, Abbott is no Thommo, Lillee, Peter Heine, etc etc, in terms of speed. A fluke.

Still, even a part-jesting relishing of physical damage is dodgy, I think. It's taking necessary aggression (in effort, willpower and determination) one step too far (towards wilful, malicious damaging intent).

It was noted on p1 above that Phil Hughes has copped a lot of flak on this forum. For poor technique, and worse still, an apparent refusal to address the technical shortcomings that have greatly reduced his effectiveness at Test level.

I don't see any contradiction between this criticism, on the one hand (as posters will know, I personally find humour-abandoning uber-levels of Anglo-Saxon rage a bit overrated: losing it beyond perspective can sound a bit desperate - but hey ... just a personal view): and on the other, a genuine desire for the batsman's speedy recovery,  and wishing him and those nearest to him the very best.

Anyway, the main thing is, like just about everyone above - another occasion which brings some of the best out of this Forum - I sincerely hope Hughes pulls through. (No pun intended!) And makes a full recovery.

And that meanwhile, those around him, and those closely involved in the incident, also keep their courage and spirits high.

Ahmed Shehzad makes a strong case again to be the twat of the year

My case was the same as Hughes's bt due 2 huge prayers 4m my mom frnds n fans made me able 2join training 2day.Alhamd

Wonder if the sun shines from his arse too? Or should that be rs?

It's a terrible incident. I've always liked Phil Hughes and his eccentric style. I also think he's quite under-rated and will make a good international cricketer one day. Things look bleak now but I'm sure he'll pull through.

This is a wake-up call for cricket even bigger than F1 has had recently... even in today's sanitised F1, there was always the thought in the background that motorsport will always carry risk and something serious will happen again one day. But professional cricket, with helmets? Barring perhaps an incident with a reckless close fielder minus headgear, it was barely foreseeable.

With the decline of Caribbean cricket we've all at times longed for a return to the days of the battery of bouncers from that fearsome pace attack, and others of that era. We've come to accept bouncers being routinely aimed at any tailender who tries to stick around, other than perhaps Chris Martin who was the only one in recent times really not skilled enough to defend himself.

Even accidental, or not-so-accidental, beamers... we tend to see these as a source of humour in the game more than anything else. Wouldn't have picked it as a username otherwise! I even find myself wanting pacemen to resolve a spat by letting one go with the token raised hand of apology. Like Jimmy Anderson with Jadeja, and Dale Steyn recently with Michael Clarke... the same Aussie captain who spent today visiting one of his team-mates left critically ill by what by all accounts was an unremarkable delivery.

Time for us all to reassess then, however this turns out, and another issue for the sport to address and come to terms with in this troubled era for it.

Is it really a wake up call? Regrettable as today was, it was in truth a bit of a fluke accident. Similar to the Boucher incident.

Before someone gets on their high horse and accuses me of being insensitive I am saddened by today's occurrence and wish Hughes a speedy recovery.

But we must also beware of a knee jerk reaction and the fact is that cricket is safer today than ever before. If the rules are changed to limit fast bowling we will destroy an intrinsic part of the game. I would also suggest that people look into the head injuries inflicted in the various rugby codes.

Let's learn a lesson from this, try and improve the protective gear but not make wholesale changes.

In addition umpires should be empowered to take more control of the game. There are rules about intimidatory bowling in place and the umpires should be encouraged and protected to enforce those rules. We all know what happened when they were stopped from calling throws.

It would also help if we stopped circuses like the Brett Lee/Piers Morgan farce. That really was a stain on the game.

I'm not saying "ban bouncers" or anything, though there will probably be people who do... just that we maybe need to rethink the way we view that sort of bowling.

Players will probably change the way they deal with it as well, it won't be such a casual thing for a while at least like it had become, the hooking, ducking and turning your back etc.

Let's be honest- the danger involved, the adrenalin fast bowling and bouncers create....it's a drawcard. Safety is important, but the fact that players risk injury (as this incident has reminded us) is what makes cricket that little bit more exciting to watch and play. If we aim to make the game ultra-safe, say, by banning bouncers entirely, the crowds will be smaller, and the TV audience less.

Same as in many sports, really... motor sport as we've already mentioned, rugby, American football, boxing and martial arts, horse racing, all carry that sort of risk to participants which is part of the spectacle - we perhaps tend to overlook that in cricket compared to the sports of direct physical contact and high speed racing.

There's not a lot else cricket can do to minimise the risks - a batsman could just as easily top edge a sweep off a spinner straight into his noggin and do himself a mischief if it catches him just under the lid.

Thankfully, these days, really serious incidents like this are incredibly rare. That doesn't make them any less gut wrenching but an element of danger is part of the deal the players all sign up for.

Except Tuffers. He had a note from his mum.

It's thought that Hughes was wearing the older form of the Masuri (or similar make) helmet....
or so it was inferred on the ITN News.

They also had the MD of Masuri on the News this evening, explaining that their latest lid
has the grille attachment moved  6 cm further back along the helmet behind the ears
with the back of the helmet dropping down a further 2 to 3 cm so as to protect the back of the head/neck.

But yeah, as Taips mentioned earlier on this page, the hope is that this incident, frightening as it is,
should not in any way prohibit the use of bouncers. This must be retained as part of a quicks armoury.

Ban it and you take away the fundamental battle between bat and ball ... albeit, I do see the
Bannies supporting the idea, given their abhorrence of fast bowling (at them) and their inability
to produce a decent quick !!

Aaron is pretty sharp from what I've seen.

Hmmnn...every post on this 'topic' makes sense...even when I disagree with it...I like this place, its love of cricket and humanity...hopefully the little fella pulls through but if he does and most importantly it is without significant long term brain injury.

horace wrote:Hmmnn...every post on this 'topic' makes sense...even when I disagree with it...I like this place, its love of cricket and humanity...hopefully the little fella pulls through but if he does and  most importantly it is without significant long term brain injury.

Aye, nothing but best wishes for Phil Hughes.