A review into the death of Phillip Hughes has found a different helmet or neck guard would not have saved the young cricketer's life.
Hughes was struck on the back of his neck by a cricket ball in a Sheffield Shield match in 2014 -- he later died of a brain haemorrhage.
It's been eighteen months since Phillip Hughes was struck down on the pitch by a cricket ball bowled to him at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Now an independent review conducted by Melbourne-based barrister David Curtain Q-C has confirmed that no one was to blame.
Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland says it was an incident the national organisation never wants to see repeated.
"We do have a responsibility to ensure nothing like this ever happens again. I did at the time say it was a freak accident, but it was a freak accident too many."
Hit on the back of his head, below the line of his helmet, Hughes died of a brain haemorrhage in hospital two days later.
The review found a different helmet or stem guard wouldn't have prevented his death.
Mr Sutherland says while Hughes was wearing an older model helmet, the newest British Standard helmet would not have resulted in a different outcome.
"The now mandated British Standard helmet would have offered no protection given where he was struck. There's no scientific evidence that current neck guards will prevent similar tragedy."
The review found his medical treatment was appropriate, despite a 20 minute wait for an ambulance.
The Australian Cricketers' Association chief executive Alistair Nicholson says that provides some solace, but also puts a spotlight on player safety.
"Obviously it was a tragic day and a freak occurrence but overall player safety and the workplace is important that we continue to strive to improve."
Some improvements recommended in the review include helmets for wicketkeepers and close-in fielders - not including slips.
It also recommends the use of stem guards, but says they shouldn't be mandated without further investigation.
And it suggested that concussion substitutes be introduced into domestic cricket.
Cricket Australia sports medicine manager Alex Kountouris says the introduction of substitutes will make a big difference.
"We want to trial it and see if it would make it that much easier for medical staff to take a player off the field when they do have concussion so we want to give it a go at whatever level possible."
Challenging a fundamental rule of first-class cricket, but the suggestion has support.
Alistair Nicholson from the Australian Cricketers' Association says players may not always be in the right frame of mind to declare themselves unfit to play.
"It's good that conversation is happening around concussion because the player is sometimes not in the best decision making ability so i think that's a good move."
Cricket Australia says it will continue to work through the recommendations of the report to ensure player safety continues to be enhanced.
But James Sutherland says there's only so much that can be done before the integrity of the game is compromised.
"We need to draw a line around the laws of the game and have some perspective. You can make the game of cricket a lot safer by playing with a tennis ball but that's obviously not how test cricket is played."
The coronial inquest into Phillip Hughes' death is likely to be scheduled for October this year.
Cricket Australia promising full co-operation.
Share
