Hughes inquest takes new sledging twist

Allegations of sledging and aggressive short-ball tactics from the New South Wales Blues in Phillip Hughes's last Sheffield Shield match took a twist on Wednesday afternoon when new evidence was tendered to the inquest into the batsman's death.

At the centre of the new evidence is the alleged sledge from Doug Bollinger that he told the South Australia batsmen Hughes and Tom Cooper "I'm going to kill you".

Hughes was later struck by a short ball bowled by Sean Abbott. He died in hospital two days later as a result of a traumatic basal subarachnoid haemorrhage caused by the blow.

Read more: Abbott details Hughes incident

Shortly before the close of proceedings on Wednesday, counsel assisting the NSW Coroner, Kristina Stern SC, submitted a statement from Matthew Day, a former underage state teammate of Hughes, that had been prepared the previous day.

Ms Stern, in submitting Day's statement to NSW State Coroner Michael Barnes, said the issue of whether there was sledging or not between the teams was moot in terms of the objectives of the inquest.

"One of the issues identified in my opening statement was the nature of the play that afternoon and if that in any way exacerbated the injury to Phillip Hughes," Ms Stern said when entering Day's statement into evidence.

"My submission is ... that there is no evidence that any comment or sledging or whatever description you wish to use, exacerbated the injury."

Ms Stern submitted to the court that it was unnecessary for the coroner to make a finding as to what, if any, comment or sledge took place on that day.

Day currently plays Sydney Premier Cricket with Mosman alongside the late batsman's brother, Jason Hughes. He has also played three domestic one-day matches for Tasmania in 2010-11, and played one match for the Sydney Thunder in the inaugural season of the Big Bash League.

In the inflammatory statement, Day recalls a conversation in the dressing room at the SCG on November 27, 2014, where players, friends and family had gathered to share a beer and a tale or several following Hughes's passing.

Read more: Bollinger, Haddin on the stand

"Whilst I was at the gathering at the Sydney Cricket Ground, I was with a group of players sitting where the players' seats area in the home dressing room," reads Day's statement, which was dated yesterday.

"There were six or seven players in the group. I can't remember all of the players but Doug Bollinger was one of the group. There was general discussion regarding the circumstances of the match.

"At one stage Doug Bollinger said words to the effect of: 'One of my sledges was 'I am going to kill you'. I can't believe I said that. I've said things like that in the past but I am never going to say it again.'"

Day's statement says Bollinger's alleged admission was greeted with stunned silence. He later relayed the conversation to his Premier Cricket teammate and Hughes's brother Jason, who "responded by saying words to the effect of: 'Tom Cooper told me the same thing'."

The new allegations further put at odds the issues the Hughes family asked this inquest to investigate and the testimony from the players and officials involved in the match.

In witness testimony under oath this week, Bollinger denied he said the sledge. Cooper denied Bollinger said it in a tense cross-examination from legal counsel representing the Hughes family.

Read more: Cooper testifies at Hughes inquest

Brad Haddin, David Warner and both on-field umpires Ash Barrow and Mike Graham-Smith all denied hearing Bollinger say the alleged sledge.

The players had denied there was any sledging at all, while one of the umpires said the only banter he heard was a jibe about one player's weight.

The statement was made public as both Bollinger and Cooper were involved in a Matador BBQs One-Day Cup match between New South Wales and South Australia at Drummoyne in Sydney's inner-west. Bollinger was the bowler who took Cooper's wicket as the Redbacks secured a comfortable victory.

Ms Stern added there was no intention to call Day to the witness stand, nor to recall any of the players to further question them in light of the new statement.

Furthermore, Day's statement reignited the issue of the Hughes family's concerns that the NSW plan had a deliberate short-ball tactic, specifically after lunch.

Day's statement included an allegation the then-NSW Blues assistant coach Trent Johnston had expressed regret about a short-ball plan to target Hughes.

"I shared a taxi with Trent Johnston (and he) said words to the effect of 'I am struggling with the fact that I was a big part of the plan that New South Wales adopted, that was to bowl short to Phil, and that eventually ended with him being struck'."

The court had already heard evidence from former international umpire Simon Taufel, called as an expert witness, who conducted a ball-by-ball analysis of the entire day's play. Taufel's report found that while there were 20 deliveries he categorised as "bouncers" bowled at Hughes, not all of them were above shoulder height.

Taufel testified that there was nothing untoward about the NSW tactics and bowling and that they were within the laws and playing conditions and that the umpires had good control of the match at all times.

Read more: Warner: Hughes not sledged at all

With the testimony of the players increasingly at odds with the concerns raised by the Hughes family and the statements made by Day, a Cricket Australia spokesperson made the following comment:

"Counsel assisting the Coroner, Kristina Stern SC, in association with legal representatives retained by Cricket Australia interviewed player and umpire witnesses appearing at the coronial enquiry. Each person was interviewed in this process independently. These interviews were held at the request of counsel assisting in which each of the players and umpires voluntarily participated," the spokesperson said.

"Statements were then drafted recording these interviews and these draft statements were reviewed by both cricket’s legal representatives and counsel assisting. Following this review, players were then sent the resulting draft statements and were asked to check the accuracy of the draft and make any amendments or additions they wished to have included before returning them.

"As witnesses who have appeared at the coronial hearing have testified, these statements were finalised without talking to any other witness. We are comfortable that this process has allowed the players and umpires to provide accurate, independent and truthful evidence to the enquiry."