ORANGE cricket legend Carl Sharpe said cricket players and their families need not worry about freak accidents like the one that left batsman Phil Hughes in an induced coma and the cricketing world reeling on Tuesday afternoon.
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The South Australia player was at the crease during a Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground when he was hit in the side of the head by a short ball, knocking him to the ground.
But with more than 50 years of cricket under his belt, including as secretary of the Mitchell Cricket Council, the central west cricket governing body, he said accidents of such severity were rare, especially in regional cricket.
“I don’t think parents or people should be worried,” he said.
“The safety equipment these days is much more superior these days that it ever was, especially all the body armour.
“The majority of junior players, until they reach rep cricket, play on synthetic pitches, a concrete pitch not turf, and concrete pitches are known to be stable, so you can always predict how the ball is going to bounce, even if it is a short ball.”
Mr Sharpe said players faced more danger from balls glancing off the side of their bats than they did from short balls delivered by a bowler.
However he believed more could be done to prevent accidents like Phil Hughes’.
“I believe it’s a technique problem,” he said.
“Before the introduction of helmets [in 1978], batsmen were very much more conscious of where the was headed, and would duck down.”
“Now batsmen take a more evasive action by turning their head away from it, taking their eye off the ball, because they believe their heads are protected more by the helmets.
“It’s a batting technique problem and players should be coached properly so they have the right techniques.”
FORMER Sheffield Shield cricketer Brian Wood knows only too well the dangers that fast bowling at the elite level of the game can bring.
He left Bathurst in the early 1980s to play first grade with the Penrith and Campbelltown clubs in addition to four years on the NSW team.
Mr Wood said back in his day, helmets were only just coming into vogue.
"When I first started playing in Sydney I didn't wear a helmet, but I soon grabbed one after facing the likes of Geoff Lawson and Mike Whitney, who were test players," he said.
"It was a good move though - Whitney hit me in the head with a bouncer, which I had tried to hook, but missed.
“The helmet saved me from a serious knock."
Mr Wood said he watched the television replay involving Phil Hughes and described it as a freakish accident.
"If you think about the amount of cricket they play these days, it's a pretty safe sport," he said.
"No doubt as a result of this horrendous accident involving Hughes there will be a review of helmets in an effort to make sure something like this does not happen again."