A 17-year-old cricketer has died after a training accident in suburban Melbourne.
Local cricket officials said Ben Austin was taken to hospital in a critical condition after being hit in the neck by a ball during practice at Ferntree Gully on Tuesday.
He was hitting the nets – which are typically training pitches surrounded by nets – when the injury occurred in front of his teammates.
Ferntree Gully Cricket Club on Thursday confirmed that Austin had died.
“We are absolutely devastated by Ben’s passing and the effects of his death will be felt by everyone in our cricket community,” the club said in a statement.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family…his friends and to all those who knew Ben and the joy he brought.”
Tributes are left at the cricket net
Ringwood and District Cricket Association president Michael Finn said Austin was warming up in the nets when the injury occurred.
“Medical assistance was provided by people on the ground at the time until the paramedics arrived,” he said.
Cricket Australia released a statement from Ben’s father, Jace Austin, on behalf of the family.
“This tragedy has taken Ben from us, but we find some comfort in the fact that he was doing something he did for so many summers – going down the nets with mates to play cricket,” the family’s statement said. “He loved cricket and it was one of the joys of his life.
“We would also like to support his teammate who bowled in the nets – this accident has affected two young men and our thoughts are with him and his family as well.”
Australian Broadcasting Corp. quoted Cricket Victoria chief executive Nick Cummins as saying Austin had been wearing a helmet and “the ball hit him in the back of the neck in a similar accident to Phil Hughes 10 years ago.”
In November 2014, international cricketer Phillip Hughes died in a Sydney hospital two days after being hit near the ear by a ball while batting for South Australia against his former team, New South Wales, in a first-class match. He was 25.
New rules were subsequently introduced for batting helmets in top-tier cricket.