Follow Us11 years after Phil Hughes’ tragic passing, Australian cricket has once again been struck by an on-field tragedy as 17-year-old Victorian cricketer Ben Austin has passed away after being struck on the neck by a ball during training.
Austin, a player of Ferntree Gully Cricket Club, was taken to the hospital on October 28 (Tuesday) immediately after the accident. He was placed on life support at Monash Children's Hospital but died on Thursday morning.
"We are absolutely devastated by the passing of Ben, and the impacts of his death will be felt by all in our cricket community. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family - Jace, Tracey, Cooper and Zach, his extended family, his friends and to all of those who knew Ben and the joy that he brought,” Ferntree Gully Cricket Club said in a statement.
Cricket Australia (CA) chair Mike Baird said that the board would ensure to provide full assistance to both the family and the club.
"The tragic circumstances of Ben and Ferntree Gully are...going to be felt across the country," CA chair Mike Baird told reporters in Melbourne.
"Cricket is a sport that brings people together, communities together. It's also one that feels very deeply an incident such as we've seen.
"[It's] hard to put words on it. What we want to say is that we are doing everything we can to support the family, the club, and all those impacted by this tragic news. Clearly, there are things that we have to learn from this, but right now, we are concerned about the family and trying to support them in every way."
Nick Cummins, Cricket Victoria chief executive, said that Austin’s tragic passing has left the entire Victorian cricket community devastated.
"We're absolutely devastated on behalf of the family, on behalf of the Ferntree Gully Cricket Club, and more broadly, the Victorian cricket community,” Cummins said.
"We are doing everything we can to support not just the family of young Ben, but also those at the club, and Ben played for a number of clubs, to ensure that they have the counselling and the support, not just today, but well into the future, as this is something that will stay with our community for some time.”
He further added, "I think the temptation in moments like this is to move to solution mode. At the moment, our focus is around providing support and counselling for those people who experienced the trauma. There will be an appropriate time to review that and answer those questions."
Austin’s family also released a statement. Jace, Ben’s father, said: "We are utterly devastated by the passing of our beautiful Ben, who died earlier on Thursday morning.
"For Tracey and I, Ben was an adored son, deeply loved brother to Cooper and Zach and a shining light in the lives of our family and friends.
"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. He loved cricket and it was one of the joys of his life.
"We would also like to support his team-mate who was bowling in the nets - this accident has impacted two young men and our thoughts are with he and his family as well."