Brydon Coverdale in ESPNcricinfo, 5 November 2016, where the title is “Players, umpires cleared of fault in Hughes’ death,”
The death of Phillip Hughes was a tragic accident arising from a “minuscule misjudgement” from the batsman and no players or umpires were at fault, according to the New South Wales coroner Michael Barnes. Mr Barnes on Friday released his findings from the coronial inquest into the death of Hughes, who was struck on the neck by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG in November 2014. Although the coroner determined that Hughes had been targeted by bouncers during his innings, he found that no laws of the game had been breached, and Hughes was well-equipped to deal with such bowling.
“Phillip was targeted by short-pitched balls bowled at or over leg stump or middle stump that placed him in greater danger of being struck,” Mr Barnes said. “Of the 23 bouncers bowled on that day, 20 were bowled to him. However, in view of the evidence of the other players, the presiding umpires, and Mr Taufel [former umpire Simon Taufel], that Phillip was, because of his high level of skill and confidence, comfortably dealing with the short-pitched balls, I conclude that no failure to enforce the laws of the game contributed to his death. The death of Continue reading →
Australia had the chance to hit the ground running in India, after the time spent preparing for the series in Dubai © AFP
Channel Nine Cricket down the Slide
Chris Barrett, in Sydney Morning Herald, 11 November 2016, where the title runs “Cricket’s television ratings plunge as Australia struggle against South Africa”
The Australian team is underperforming and fans are switching off at an alarming level, with the prime-time television audience for the first Test against South Africa evaporating by one-quarter from the corresponding clash in Perth last year against New Zealand. In a concerning development for Cricket Australia as it prepares to begin formal negotiations with networks over the rights to broadcast cricket from 2018 to 2023, OzTAM ratings show viewer numbers have dropped off a cliff since last summer.According to the figures, Channel Nine’s five-city metro audience fell an average of 23 per cent in the third session of the first Test across the five days in Perth – which is played in all-important prime time on the east coast – from 975,000 in the corresponding Test at the WACA Ground last year to 749,000.
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