The Indian and Australian players wore black armbands during the semifinal encounter at the ICC Women’s World Cup at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Thursday. Both teams extend the gesture in solidarity with teenage cricketer Ben Austin, who passed away after being hit by a ball at nets.
As reported by Associated Press, Austin endured a serious blow in the head while training at the Ferntree Gully Cricket Club in suburban Melbourne on Tuesday. Local cricket officials said Ben Austin was rushed to a hospital in critical condition but unfortunately couldn't recover from the impact.
As per another report by PTI, the teenager was wearing a helmet that had no neck guard and was hit by the ball which was thrown by a side-arm. He was doing the drill against the fast bowlers to prepare for a T20 match when he suffered the fatal blow in front of his teammates. It added that Austin was put on ventilator.
In November 2014, former Australia cricketer Phillip Hughes died in a Sydney hospital at the age of 25 two days after being hit near the ear by a ball while batting for South Australia against his former team, New South Wales, in a first-class match. Hours after Hughes' death, Cricket Australia postponed a scheduled Test against India in Brisbane. New regulations were subsequently introduced for batting helmets in top-tier cricket.
Meanwhile, Cricket Australia released the statement of Austin's family, which read: “This tragedy has taken Ben from us, but we find some comfort that he was doing something he did for so many summers — going down to the nets with mates to play cricket.”
It added: "He loved cricket and it was one of the joys of his life. We would also like to support his teammate who was bowling in the nets — this accident has impacted two young men and our thoughts are with he and his family as well.”
-with agencies input
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