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Cricket community calls for calm

Greats lament 'freak accident' at the SCG involving Hughes

Update

The cricket community worldwide is in mourning today following the death of Phillip Joel Hughes, aged 25.

Cricket Australia announced the news with a statement from team doctor Peter Brukner. 

Read more here.

Earlier

Some of cricket's most respected voices have shared their disbelief at the Phillip Hughes incident, but say it should not result in any changes to the game's laws surrounding intimidatory bowling.

Hughes remains in a critical condition in St Vincent's Hospital after he was struck on the head by a bouncer during a Bupa Sheffield Shield match yesterday at the SCG.

As the cricket community waits for an update on the 25-year-old's condition, former Test players say it has provided a sobering reminder of the very real danger that batsmen face.

But they have dismissed any suggestion that the laws of the game should be changed.

"It's just one of those terrible, freak accidents," spin legend Shane Warne told Triple M.

"I don't think it's anything to do with helmets and that sort of stuff. It's just one of those freak things that happen in sport.

"You just think about how many lives the helmet has saved over the years - this is just one of those things."

Former Test opener Matthew Hayden said that outlawing the bouncer would "take away the combative nature of cricket".

And former quick Stuart Clark added: "As a fast bowler you’ve got to intimidate. That’s part of the game.

"It’s been a part of the game for a long period of time now and I hope it always will be."

Batting great and former West Indies captain Brian Lara said cricket authorities did all they could to protect players from injury.

"(The bouncer is) part of the game and they've done their best over the years to curb it and manage it as much as possible," Lara told Fairfax.

"It's part of the armoury of a fast bowler and it's very hard to take that totally away from him.

"There are some batsmen who feed off that sort of attack and I don't believe it's something that should affect the fast bowlers and the rules governing that.

"It's a sport and you're always going to have that element of risk.

"This is an unfortunate and rare situation.

"I suppose the authorities will be a little bit worried about something like this, how it happened and if it will ever happen again."

Cricket Victoria's General Manager of Cricket and former Australia player Shaun Graf said current restrictions surrounding short balls were adequate.  

But he said that modern helmet designs should be reviewed in the wake of the Hughes incident and one earlier in the season that left NSW Blues batsmen Ben Rohrer with concussion.

Rohrer was a struck in a similar place to where Hughes was yesterday; the lower part of his neck near the ear, which is unprotected by modern helmets.

Rohrer hasn't played since the incident on November 2 and has missed the past three Shield matches due to the ongoing effects of concussion.

"If you look at the footage of the (Hughes) incident ... he was actually through the shot. So it wasn't like it was a fast bouncer," Graf told SEN.

"It maybe didn't come off the wicket as quick, it's hit him in the perfect spot.

"I don't think you can blame the actual bowling, it wasn't intimidatory.

"We already limit the bouncer to two an over ... so I think we mandate quite well in relation to intimidatory bowling, if there is such a thing these days.

"I really don't think it's the fault of the laws of the game or anything.

"It was purely and simply a freak accident and I think ... we have to look a bit more deeper into the helmet design to try and eradicate this sort of incident ever happening again.

"There is obviously a flaw in the helmet design that we have to actually maybe fix.

"It's not the helmet manufacturers' fault. It's cricket's duty to now actually look at how to improve the helmet so the players are further protected."

While the ball struck Hughes in an area that wasn't covered by his helmet, the protection worn by modern players is a vast improvement on that used by players of past eras.

Graf said advancements in protective equipment - including helmets, chest guards and arm guards - has made it easy to forget that facing fast bowling is a skill that should not be taken lightly.

"There has been a school of thought from the old players ... that because of the advent of helmets and all the protection, that players have actually taken their eye off the ball, so to speak, in so far as their reflexes to avoid getting hit or getting inside the line of the ball.

"This is just something that brings it home that it is a dangerous sport in some ways

"But really and truly it's a one-off incident.

"I can't remember anything like this happening before ... I've never seen anything in my career that's even come close to this."

Warne echoed Graf's sentiments, saying the ease with which batsmen handle short-pitched bowling often hides a genuine fear of being hit.

"Don't underestimate how skilful the batsmen are, even the tail-enders," Warne said.

"It's a great skill to watch, like any sport, when people do it well it looks really easy. 

"But I can promise you when you go and stand next to it, it does get the heart racing.

"You know when you go out there you could get hit in the head and it's going to hurt."