Calling Phillip Hughes’ death a tragic incident, New South Wales (NSW) coroner Michael Barnes has said the accident was caused due to a misjudgement and the players are not at fault for the mishap.
While batting for South Australia in Sheffield Shield match on November 25, 2014, the left-handed batsman was fatally struck on the neck by a delivery from Sean Abbott. He died in hospital two days later.
Mr Barnes, who was inquiring into the death of the player, released his report on Friday (November 4). In his report, he claimed that although the player was targeted by short-pitched deliveries as out of 23 bouncers that were bowled that day, 20 were bowled to Hughes, he did not find out any malicious intentions from the players.
The coroner said:“Phillip was targeted by short-pitched balls bowled at or over leg stump or middle stump that placed him in greater danger of being struck. Of the 23 bouncers bowled on that day, 20 were bowled to him.
“However, in view of the evidence of the other players, the presiding umpires, and Mr Taufel [former umpire Simon Taufel], that Phillip was, because of his high level of skill and confidence, comfortably dealing with the short-pitched balls, I conclude that no failure to enforce the laws of the game contributed to his death.
“Such was his skill and experience, he was well able to deal with such bowling, but even the best can’t perform perfectly all of the time. He could have avoided the ball by ducking under it, but such was his competitiveness, he sought to make runs from it.
“A minuscule misjudgement, or a slight error of execution, caused him to miss the ball which crashed into his neck with fatal consequences. There is absolutely no suggestion the ball was bowled with malicious intent. Neither the bowler nor anyone else was to blame for the tragic outcome.”
During the inquest, there were speculations that the opposition players sledged Hughes which led to the tragic incident. However, Mr Barnes, although accepting that there was sledging that day, said the accident was just tragic and had nothing to do with the sledging. He also labelled sledging an ‘ugly underside’ of the ‘beautiful game’.
He said:“Hopefully the focus on this unsavoury aspect of the incident may cause those who claim to love the game to reflect on whether the practice of sledging is worthy of its participants. An outsider is left to wonder why such a beautiful game would need such an ugly underside.”
Although criticising the ground officials for the delay in calling the medical assistance, Mr Barnes said the death would not have been prevented even if Hughes had received timely medical assistance as he suffered “unsurvivable” injuries.
“None of those on the field at the time knew how to summon medical assistance onto the field,” the coroner said. “Although it was immediately obvious that Phillip was injured, it was not clear whose responsibility it was to call an ambulance. An ambulance was not called for over six minutes after he was hit.
“The person who called the ambulance did not have sufficient information to enable an accurate triage to be made by the ambulance dispatcher. As a result, the ambulance response was given a lower order of urgency than it would have been given had the relevant information about Phillip’s condition been conveyed.”
He also noted the medical facilities present on the ground were not adequate to offer Hughes any help.
“Not that anyone involved was lackadaisical or cavalier, rather the systems in place to respond to such an incident were inadequate.Unless addressed, those failings could result in a preventable death occurring… All of those who responded to Phillip’s injury did so selflessly and to the best of their ability. They are to be commended,” he added.
During the inquiry, Hughes’ family had raised their concern about on-field sledgings. However, the coroner said the grief of losing a family member made them speculate those things.
Mr Barnes said:“The family’s grief at losing their much-loved son and brother was exacerbated by their belief that unfair play had contributed to his death,” he said. “In the course of this inquest, they have heard from independent experts, high-ranking cricket officials and some of the players who were on the field with Phillip when he played his last game of cricket.
“Clearly, they do not agree with all that they heard. However, it is hoped that they accept the compelling evidence that the rules were complied with; that Phillip was excelling at the crease as he so often did, and that his death was a tragic accident.
“Nothing can undo the source of their never-ending sorrow but hopefully, in the future, the knowledge that Phillip was loved and admired by so many and that his death has led to changes that will make cricket safer will be of some comfort.”
Hughes’ family later released a statement to say that they accepted the coroner’s report and hoped the measures that are taken to make the game safe will become a part of Hughes legacy.
The statement said:“[Father] Greg, [mother] Virginia, [siblings] Jason and Megan accept the coroner’s findings.They have noted the four recommendations made by the coroner, and Cricket Australia’s commitment to implement them. They are deeply hoping that no other family has to go through the pain of losing a loved one on an Australian sporting field.
“As the coroner has noted, Phillip’s death has led to changes that will make cricket safer. The Hughes family hopes that this will be part of Phillip’s legacy to the game that he loved so dearly. They would like to sincerely thank the many people who have been in contact throughout and since the inquest.”