'Shaken' Mennie subbed out of county match

Australian paceman Joe Mennie became the first player in the United Kingdom's County Championship to be substituted out of an ongoing match under new concussion guidelines after suffering a head knock on Thursday.

Mennie, who is spending the northern summer playing for Lancashire as their overseas player, was struck on the right side of his head while bowling on day two of a first-class match against Worcestershire at New Road.  

New Zealander Martin Guptill, Worcestershire's international player, blasted a drive back on the bounce at Mennie who was hit in his follow through.

The 29-year-old had deflected the ball towards his temple and momentarily laid motionless, according to an ESPN report, but was able to walk off the ground unassisted after receiving medical attention during a lengthy delay.

While Lancashire assistant coach Mark Chilton said Mennie is yet to be diagnosed with concussion, he was able to be replaced by 22-year-old allrounder Danny Lamb under new rules for the 2018 English season.

Chilton said Mennie, although "shaken" by the blow, remained conscious throughout and appeared in good spirits.

It follows a similar incident in January last year when Mennie was struck in the head by a powerful drive from Michael Lumb in the Gabba nets in the lead-in to the Sydney Sixers' Big Bash semi-final.

The knock resulted in a fractured skull and minor brain bleeding but he was able to return for South Australia's final two matches of the 2016-17 Shield season.

"We do not know for sure whether he has concussion until he undergoes further tests later but it was not a glancing blow," Chilton said on Thursday.

"Although the ball was hit into the ground and Joe stuck out his hand to stop it, the ball deflects into the side of his head with enough impact that it has left an impression of the seam.

"Obviously that caused immediate concern for everybody and although he was conscious at all times he was pretty shaken and has a sore head.

"We were aware of what happened to him last year but there would have been the same concerns irrespective of that.

"Joe will have further tests this evening to assess whether he has suffered concussion but already seems much better and hopefully there is no lasting damage."

Mennie, who played one Test for Australia in November 2016, has taken 24 wickets at 21.50 in six Division One County Championship matches this year.

The England and Wales Cricket Board introduced concussion regulations in March after a two-year trial allowing subs for concussed players in first-class matches was confirmed by the International Cricket Council last year. 

The trial paved the way for Cricket Australia to introduce replacement players for last season's JLT Sheffield Shield having only previously been permitted to have concussion subs in place for domestic limited-overs competitions.

Victoria had been denied a substitute and were reduced to playing with 10 players in a Shield match the previous season when Sam Harper was struck by Jake Lehmann's bat while wicketkeeping up to the stumps in a freak accident at Adelaide Oval.

NSW batsman Daniel Hughes was the first player subbed out of a domestic match in Australia under CA's rules in October 2016 when he was struck on the helmet in a domestic one-day game in Sydney.

Tasmania's Jake Doran then became the first player to be subbed out of a Shield match in November last year while Victoria's Will Pucovski was also replaced in a Shield contest in March.

CA have indicated their wish to eventually have concussion subs introduced for international cricket.

"We strongly believe that the rules we've got in place are good for the sport and the player," CA's head of cricket operations Peter Roach told cricket.com.au last year.

"We would be heavily surprised if we weren't reporting favourable things from the trial and other countries weren't desperate to follow suit.

"The prominence of concussions is growing and awareness should continue to grow. We do play a sport that, while far from a regular occurrence, does have instances of concussions.

"We are making every effort to protect the player and we make no apology for it."