Category Archives: welfare through sport

Coroner Barnes exonerates Australian Cricketing Philosophy in Verdict on Hughes’ Incident

Brydon Coverdale in ESPNcricinfo, 5 November 2016, where the title is “Players, umpires cleared of fault in Hughes’ death,”

scales-of-justice  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 →

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Bangladesh and England Toe-to-Toe in Two Coruscating Test Matches

Cricket at Its Best ! Close  fought Encounters swinging This Way and That Way!  Making nonsense of the Two-Tier Plans of the Mighty!

England beat Bangladesh by just 22 runs in the First Test at  CHIITAGONG earlier 20-24th October

Bangladesh beat England by 108 runs in the Second Test at Mirpur — a difference that was not developed till late in the day because England were 99 for no wickets at one point and the game was in the balance THEN.

Mehedi Hasan Mirza was Man of the Match after taking  6 for 82 at in innings one (at 2.92) and 6 for 77 (at. 3.58) in innings two  

bangla-s-celebrate cook-m-rahim

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Joe Root’s Finger-Licking Ball-Stroking may be His Problem

George Dobell, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, where the title is “Joe Root’s illness puts focus on ball-cleaning role”

England are facing an anxious wait to see if Joe Root will be able to take any further part in the second Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka. Root was forced off the pitch during the evening session of day two after complaining of an upset stomach. He was subsequently isolated from the rest of the squad to limit any chance of contagion, driven back to the hotel on his own and confined to his room.While the team management are hopeful that a night’s sleep will help Root make a swift recovery, they will be anxious to see how he is on Sunday morning. Such is England’s reliance upon him, their chances of chasing down their fourth-innings target on a demanding Dhaka pitch will be substantially diminished if he is rendered unavailable.England's Joe Root uses a towel as a sun shade on the first day of their first cricket test match against Bangladesh in Chittagong, Bangladesh, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)

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The Rousing Tale of Pradeep Matthew, ambidextrous and bowling Chinaman

Benjamin Colby, courtesy of The CRICKET MONTHLY, October 2016, and ESPNcricinfo, where the title runs “The greatest cricketer who never lived” …  In the first of a series on cricket in fiction, a look at Chinaman, in which the game isn’t so much plot driver as plinth

There is more cricket fiction than is probably thought to exist. Screeds of it, in fact, with a curious abundance of thrillers and murder mysteries stretching from Dorothy Sayers’ Oxford Blue amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey to Ted Dexter’s Testkill. As is often the case with artistry, novelists tackle cricket in a manner one might not otherwise think up. “How different would English summers be without slip fielders?” Jennie Walker’s 24 for 3 contemplates. Arthur Conan Doyle’s Spedegue’s Dropper has a schoolteacher bowling 50 feet upward for the ball to fall vertically onto the stumps. Anthologies of cricket’s gilded writings tend toward literary pedigree, such as All-Muggleton’s jolly trouncing of Dingley Dell in Charles Dickens’ Pickwick Papers. Evergreen in the game, too, is celebrating an England of green fields surely more emerald than ever was the case in life. Upstanding here is the nostalgic village-cricket schmaltz of Hugh de Selincourt’s The Cricket Match ….shehan Shehan Karunatillaka-Pic by Alamy … http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-shehan-karunatilaka-sri-lanka-born-author-who-won-the-commonwealth-40676969.html

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How to avoid Bouncers: Ashley Mallett Sermon

 Ashley Mallet, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, October 2016, t: Bouncer-safety starts with watching the ball

Fast bowlers use the short ball as a legitimate weapon to unsettle any batsman. It is a fair and reasonable tactic that has stood the test of time. On that terrible day at the SCG in November 2014, Phillip Hughes appeared to misjudge the pace of the ball and looked to be through his hook shot before he was struck in the neck, clear of the protective face of the helmet. It was a shocking, freak accident and, especially for Phil’s family and friends, so terrible in its finality.In the wake of the Hughes’ tragedy there has been a disturbing number of quality batsmen being struck on the helmet. The “hit” list is not dominated by mid- to lower-order batsmen.  bouncer-isssue-pa-photos   Ian Chappell: “When you’re quickly on to the front foot it’s impossible to get inside the line of the delivery to play the shot more safely” © PA PhotosIn recent times players of the calibre of Steven Smith, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke, Chris Rogers and Virat Kohli have copped heavy blows to the helmet. When looking at footage of the incidents, you see all too clearly that all of the players who were hit were not watching the ball and they were struck on the side of the helmet.

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Call for Clarification of Bouncer Laws at Inquest into the Phil Hughes Death

Daniel Brettig,  in ESPNcricinfo, 14 October 2016, with title “Clarify bouncer laws, Phillip Hughes inquest told”  

Definitions of what constitutes “unfair bowling” should be clarified by cricket’s lawmakers, the New South Wales coronial inquest into the death of Phillip Hughes has heard on an emotion-charged final day. Counsel assisting the coroner, Kristina Stern SC, submitted that the inquest should conclude that this was a case of “accidental death”, which was not made more likely by the nature of play on the day of the Sheffield Shield match at the SCG. Hughes was struck in the side of the neck on day one of the match, November 25, 2014, suffering an arterial injury that resulted in his death at St Vincent’s Hospital two days later.hughes_3116917bhughes-and-helmetphil-hughes

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Doug Bollinger on Back Foot in Phil Hughes Inquest

Peter Lalor, in The Australian, 13 October 2016, where the title is “Hughes witness puts Bollinger on the back foot”

A last-minute statement by a new witness has contradicted claims by senior cricketers to the NSW Coroner that Phillip Hughes was not sledged or targeted with short-pitched bowling. The tragedy of Hughes’s death was revisited yesterday with bowl­er Sean Abbott’s moving ­account of cradling the fallen batsman on the pitch after he’d been struck a fatal blow. But the sideshow that the inquest into the accident has become was also on display when Matthew Day, a former Australian under-19 player and friend of the Hughes family, offered a statement to the NSW Coroner’s Court stating that Doug Bollinger told him he regretted saying on the day the words “I am going to kill you”.

Day’s recollection sets him at odds with the other players, ­including South Australia’s Tom Cooper, who was a pallbearer with Day at Hughes’s funeral. Day also claimed the NSW bowling coach at the time told him he was upset there were plans to bowl short to Hughes, who was struck and killed by a bouncer.

bollinger-today Doug Bolinger on the field 2016—Pic by Phil Hillyard

day Matthew Day at hospital after Phillip Hughes was injured —Pic by John Grainger

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Coroner’s Inquiry into the Death of Phil Hughes: Serious Questions, Tears & Standard Fare

ABC News Item, 10 October 2016, with title “

Australian cricketer Tom Cooper has told an inquest into the death of Phillip Hughes there was a “noticeable” increase in short-pitched balls during the match. tom-cooper philhughes

Key points:

  • Cricketer Phillip Hughes died after a freak accident during a 2014 cricket match
  • Batting partner Tom Cooper says Hughes was targeted by short-pitched balls but seemed relaxed
  • Cooper and umpire Ash Barrow deny there was sledging from the NSW team

A coronial inquest in Sydney is looking into the manner and cause of the death of 25-year-old Hughes, who was struck on the neck by a cricket ball while batting for South Australia against New South Wales in a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG on November 25, 2014. Hughes died after the injury to his neck caused a haemorrhage: in his brain.

Forensic pathologist Professor Johan Duflou, who carried out the postmortem examination on Hughes, said an artery in his neck had been severed — an injury more commonly seen in single punch attacks. Neurosurgeon Professor Brian Owler told the inquest the force of the ball and the angle at which it struck contributed to the injury, along with the angle at which the cricketer had been holding his head. Continue reading →

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Afghanistan & Sri Lanka at Opposite Ends about Two-Tier System

ESPNcricinfo, 7 September 2016,….. SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala pushes for four-day Tests _ Cricket … 

iccWhile expressing differing views on the ICC’s decision to withdraw the proposal for two-tier Test cricket, Full Member boards welcomed the discussions opened up at Wednesday’s chief executives’ meeting on ways to sustain the longest format of the game. Thilanga Sumathipala, the SLC president, called for boards to market Test cricket more vigorously, and suggested four-day Tests as a step towards increasing the excitement around the format.

“[Withdrawing the two-tier proposal is] a very wise decision as far as SLC is concerned,” Sumathipala said. “It’s going to give us more time to revisit and to see how, while we are maintaining our top 10 Test-playing nations, we could allow emerging Test-playing nations to join, while making sure that the tournament effect is taking place. We’re going forward together in this. I’m happy with the new line of thinking, and I’m happy we are not pursuing the seven-five two-tier system.”

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Samaraweera and Kalpage at Different Ends in the Bangladesh Cricketing Scene

Mohamma dEsan at ESPNcricinfo

Former Sri Lanka batsman Thilan Samaraweera has been appointed as Bangladesh batting consultant for the upcoming home series against England. This will be his second stint in this role with an international team, having already worked as batting consultant to Australia earlier this year. BCB president Nazmul Hassan said on Friday that Samaraweera would be available only for one series, but added that the contract could be extended. He also said that the BCB was looking for a spin bowling coach, who could be appointed before Bangladesh’s tour to New Zealand later this year.”Thilan Samaraweera, the batting specialist, has been hired for the England series as a consultant,” Hassan said. “We will see if we want to extend him. We are still looking for a spin bowling coach. [We will] get the best among those available. We hope to appoint one before the New Zealand series.”AA THILAN Thilan —cricspirit.com  RUWAN K PHOTO Kalpage –www.hirunews.lk 

Meanwhile, fielding coach Richard Halsall has been promoted to the position of assistant coach after Ruwan Kalpage was sacked last month for ignoring instructions to report to duty. Halsall was part of the major shake-up in the coaching staff that came about in mid-2014, when head coach Chandika Hathurusingha was appointed.

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84

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