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Umpire Ward stable after head knock

Aussie umpire is fine after being struck in the head by a powerful shot while officiating in India

Australian umpire John Ward is stable after sustaining a blow to the head while officiating in India's Ranji Trophy yesterday.

Ward was struck in the head in the 48th over from a full-blooded shot by Punjab batsman Brainder Sran off Tammil Nadu bowler DT Chandrasekar.

The umpire, who is in India as part of an umpire exchange program between Australia, India and South Africa, was taken to Apollo Hospital via Ambulance.

"He is completely normal," Dindigul District Cricket Association secretary N Venkataraman told ESPNCricinfo.

"He has a tiny bulge behind the right ear which was identified in the scan. The medical observation, as per BCCI norms, has to be done in a big hospital, so we have shifted him to Apollo Hospitals in Madurai.

"There also we took scans. He is completely alright.

"Normally, in the event of a head injury, a patient is advised to be under observation for a day or two. He has been advised rest for a minimum of one day." 

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National Selection Panel chairman Rod Marsh expressed his concern for umpire safety in September during the annual MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture.

Marsh said changing the front-foot no-ball rule could be one way to provide officials more time to react should a ball come towards them.

"It's only a matter of time before an umpire in an international or first-class match is seriously hurt, if not killed," Marsh said.

"This appears most likely to occur in T20 cricket but looking at the World Cup earlier this year, it could happen at any time.

"If I happened to be umpiring right now I’d be wearing a baseball catchers helmet, a chest pad and shin guards.

"Maybe we have to make this safety gear for umpires compulsory for all international and first class games."

With bigger bats and stronger batsmen, Marsh said reverting to the back-foot no-ball rule, which was dispensed with in 1962-63, would be the best option in the short-term.

"I can’t see why we ever went to the front-foot law and just quietly I can reveal there are a few umpires out there beginning to wish it would revert back to the back-foot law," Marsh added.

"You put yourself in their position when a batsman with a massive weapon runs at the bowler and smashes a straight drive at about chest height.

"I for one would want to be standing back as far as possible and by reverting to the back-foot law the umpire has a chance to stand at least two metres further back."