Cricket death report highlights need for more neck and chest protection for players

A comprehensive report into cricket deaths co-authored by Australia's former team doctor has recommended more work be done to prevent injuries like the fatal blow delivered to batsman Phillip Hughes.

The long-term study published online by the Medical Journal of Australia is the first of its kind and looked at cases of players whose deaths were "directly related to participation in cricket", ranging from the backyard to first-class level.

The authors identified 174 fatalities in Australia from 1858 to 2016, including 83 in organised matches and 91 in "informal settings" such as schools, on streets and at the beach.

Historically, the most common cause "of cricket-related death was being struck on the head", wrote former team doctor Peter Brukner, epidemiologist Lauren Fortington and SA Museum historian Tom Gara.

The ages of the victims "ranged from a young baby to a 78-year-old umpire", and the deaths included:

11 fielders, including five who collided with other players and six who were hit by cricket balls

13 players at training including a bowler who was hit by a ball

Six wicket-keepers including one struck on the head by a ball thrown in by a fielder and another hit by a bat

Three spectators and one bystander hit by a ball from a local ground

Three umpires

Two players preparing the pitch

45 batsmen

31 at school

In one historic instance, a father was killed when he was hit by a ball struck by his son.

"A little baby was killed when she was being held in her mother's arms in the back garden and kids next door hit the ball over," Mr Gara said.

"There was another case when two brothers were playing against each other from separate teams and one bowled and his killed his brother who was batting."

The report found while elite players were more likely to face express-pace bowling, park cricketers were often playing on pitches and in conditions that made "the trajectory [of cricket balls] more difficult to predict".

More work needed to protect chests and necks

The number of deaths peaked in the 1930s, but has significantly declined since the 1980s, largely because of the introduction and uptake of helmets by batsmen and fielders at all levels of the game.

"Helmets have stopped probably 30 or 40 being killed since the 1980s," Mr Gara said.

But the research highlighted two types of fatal injury — chest blows disrupting heart rhythms (commotio cordis), and haemorrhages caused by blows to the vertebral artery like the one that killed Hughes in 2014 — as requiring more attention.

"Efforts to protect players, particularly batsmen" from these types of injuries "should be undertaken", the authors wrote.

"Since Hughes's death, a number of neck guards have been developed and trialled in an attempt to protect the neck area over the vertebral artery where Hughes was struck.

"These guards have not yet been adopted universally, but it is anticipated that they will eventually become part of the standard helmet."

Despite claims Hughes's death was a one-off, archives show several other players have died in the same manner, Mr Gara said.

With regard to chest injuries, the report found the "most popular commercially available protectors do not offer absolute protection from arrhythmia after a blow to the chest".

"Chest protectors are not commonly used by cricketers except at the highest level."

Findings should be understood in context

To compile the data over a two-year period, Mr Gara delved into newspaper archives largely via Trove, looking for reports of cricket injuries.

He used all the search terms he could think of.

"I guess no-one ever really cared about people being killed in cricket, no-one ever took any notice until Phillip Hughes was killed," he said.

"In the 1930s and the 1940s, there were occasions when three or four cricketers were killed within a month or two of each other, and newspapers did start to notice. But nothing was done."

Mr Gara thinks while Twenty20 cricket has bolstered the game's appeal, it has also increased the risks of serious injury or death.

"I'm sure that someone will get killed in the crowd one day. But you can't put nets up," he said.

His concern is shared by former elite umpire Daryl Harper who has previously called for better protections for officials in the firing line of powerfully struck balls.

"Surely technology these days, something can be done to produce a light-weight helmet that provides plenty of protection right around the head," he said in 2016.

Mr Gara is a keen park cricketer, and his passion for the game has not been dented by his findings.

But his research has encouraged him to take the game's safety issues more seriously. He has since bought a new-style helmet with neck protection and encourages others to do the same.

He wants sports equipment manufacturers to continue to develop better protection, and raised the idea of defibrillators being kept on standby at cricket grounds.

However, he emphasised he does not want to dampen enthusiasm for the sport he loves, and believes the figures should be understood in the context of sporting injuries more generally.

He is turning his attention to Australian rules and the rugby codes, and expects to uncover similar findings.

"You've got more chance of being killed in a car accident on the way to cricket," he said.