Cricket is a dangerous game: lara on Hughes’ accident
West Indian batting great Brian lara has joined thousands to pray for Australian batsman Phil Hughes’ speedy recovery but feels cricket is a “dangerous game” and there is always an “element of risk” in the game.
Insisting that the whole of the cricketing world is praying for Hughes, lara believes it would be impossible to guarantee that a similar incident like this won’t happen again in future. “It’s very unfortunate. Batsman are always in danger of all sorts of different things. You wouldn’t wish something like that to happen at all,” lara said.
“It’s so sad what took place and you just have to pray. I know that the whole of Australia and the whole of the cricketing world are hoping the best comes out of this and pray he comes back to full health,” he was quoted as saying by Daily Telegraph.
“It’s a sport and you’re always going to have that element of risk. This is an unfortunate rare situation.
“It is a dangerous game. Along with rugby and rugby league, really tough games, and motor racing, there is that element of risk,” lara said.
Despite being one of the most feared batsman to have ever played the game, lara recalled some of his scary moments with short pitched deliveries.
“I suppose the authorities will be a little bit worried about something like this, how it happened and if it will ever happen again. I felt pretty safe playing. I knew the element of risk. A little prayer in the morning and hope for the best,” he said.
Cricket is a dangerous game: lara on Hughes’ accident
West Indian batting great Brian lara has joined thousands to pray for Australian batsman Phil Hughes’ speedy recovery but feels cricket is a “dangerous game” and there is always an “element of risk” in the game.
Insisting that the whole of the cricketing world is praying for Hughes, lara believes it would be impossible to guarantee that a similar incident like this won’t happen again in future. “It’s very unfortunate. Batsman are always in danger of all sorts of different things. You wouldn’t wish something like that to happen at all,” lara said.
“It’s so sad what took place and you just have to pray. I know that the whole of Australia and the whole of the cricketing world are hoping the best comes out of this and pray he comes back to full health,” he was quoted as saying by Daily Telegraph.
“It’s a sport and you’re always going to have that element of risk. This is an unfortunate rare situation.
“It is a dangerous game. Along with rugby and rugby league, really tough games, and motor racing, there is that element of risk,” lara said.
Despite being one of the most feared batsman to have ever played the game, lara recalled some of his scary moments with short pitched deliveries.
“I suppose the authorities will be a little bit worried about something like this, how it happened and if it will ever happen again. I felt pretty safe playing. I knew the element of risk. A little prayer in the morning and hope for the best,” he said.
Hughes was wearing old helmet: Manufacturer
With questions being raised over the degree of safety provided by protective gears in cricket in the wake of the Phil Hughes incident, the manufacturer of the injured cricketer’s helmet, Masuri, has said that the Australian batsman was wearing an older and lighter headgear.
A spokesman for the UK-based company said that Hughes was wearing an old helmet instead of their their latest model, in the Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and South Australia at the SCG on Tuesday.
The company said they were studying video footage of the freak incident and wished Hughes a speedy recovery.
“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 spokesman was quoted as saying by Australian press.
“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 had launched a new model of helmet that covers the back of the batsmen’s head in August last year, but it seems Hughes was not wearing the latest model while batting in the Sheffield Shield match.
The spokesman, however, refused to comment on whether the their latest model helmets could have prevented the injury.
“The newly-developed Masuri Vision Series helmet, which supersedes the 2013 helmet worn by Phil Hughes, does afford batsmen extra protection in this region — and still allows comfortable movement,” he said.
Sheffield Shield round abandoned
Cricket Australia on Wednesday abandoned the current round of the Sheffield Shield as the Philip Hughes mishap has left everybody shaken.
The match between the New South Wales Blues and West End Redbacks at the SCG was abandoned yesterday after Hughes was rushed to hospital having been struck on the head by a Sean Abott bouncer.
But after consultation with the players and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) the other two matches - in Melbourne and Brisbane - were also called off. “There were a number of players that were shocked and very devastated by what had Ahappened,” said ACA Chief Executive Alistair Nicholson.
“In conjunction with Cricket Australia ... It was decided not to play and we think that was the right decision. The players now are obviously going home where it’s relevant to be looked after in their states and with the ACA.”
Nicholson also said that there have been no discussions about the status of the upcoming fixtures on the Australian calendar, especially India’s tour match against a Cricket Australia XI, which begins on Friday in Adelaide.
“Obviously, every player and how they react is different,” Nicholson said. “In regards to those fixtures later on, that’s not something we’ve had any specific conversations on yet.”