Today column on deaths caused by baseballs. I thought whether there were any in cricket where there are similar dangers to spectators?
I know of no spectator being killed or indeed any players, but in cricket (unlike in baseball), its perfectly legal (and a common tactic) to aim for the body of the batsman means that there have been many bad injuries and at least two cardiac arrests have been caused (thankfully not fatal) by being struck by a ball. Anyothers? In othern sports?
Wikipedia lists a number of deaths-by-cricket-ball, most notably Indian Test batsman Raman Lamba, who was hit on the head while fielding.
No word on any injuries to spectators, though they do link one story about an umpire being fatally injured by a ball thrown from the outfield.
There have also been number of incidents involving non-human “spectators”.
That kind of injury/death is unlikely in baseball, since no baseball player fields as close to the batter as they do in cricket. It had nothing to do with the bowler being able to aim for the batter.
Maybe I misunderstand what you mean but… ummm… catcher? They’re less than 3 feet behind the batter. The bat passes directly over their head in a full swing.
OTOH, they’re padded and masked, so I don’t know of any critical injuries to catchers by foul-tip balls.
I don’t know much about baseball, but doesn’t the catcher only get the ball if the batter misses? That means that he has been able to judge where the ball is going ever since it left the pitcher. In addition, the catcher can signal to the pitcher where he wants the ball to go.
The catcher is analogous to the wicketkeeper, and I notice they’re often helmeted and masked as well, probably for comparable reasons as catchers.
Regarding the catcher, in a normal ball or strike, yeah, he has some idea where the ball is going (as long as the pitcher’s control isn’t bad–but a lot of power pitchers combine frightening ball speed and unpredictable placement, even from the pitcher’s own perspective).
But in a foul tip, the ball is struck (glancingly) by the bat and comes off with a great deal of velocity–usually greater than the pitch speed–plus some spin and a mildly unpredictable trajectory. (This is analogous to an edge.) It is quite possible for a tip to strike the catcher at terrific velocity. Maybe the round shape of the baseball bat makes that more likely than the flat surface of a cricket bat. Anyway, the pads and mask are an accommodation to that.
Since baseball has fewer fielding positions than cricket, there isn’t an immediate analogue to the “forward short” Raman Lamba was playing when hit on the head by a batted ball. Just estimating the distances, I’d expect it would be comparable to a line drive down a baseline striking a base fielder (say, third base) square on the head, but I can’t picture that ever happening. A comebacker whacking the pitcher on the head does have precedent, though. (Actually, can the bowler get hurt by a well-batted ball? Same thing.)
The point is that the greatest danger to anyone in the vicinity of a ballpark or wicket grounds would be from the struck ball or the bat. And the catcher/keeper would be the fielder closest to the action, even if the least likely to be hit either by a well pitched/bowled or well struck ball.
Very unlikely for a spectator to be injured by a cricket ball.
A key reason for this is that the cricket pitch (i.e., the area where all the action happens) is in the center of a large oval, and usually at least 60 meters (about 200 feet) from the fences, where the closest spectator would be sitting.
The greatest danger to spectators in baseball is from hard foul balls that go wide enough to miss the protective netting behind the catcher, and from hard-hit line drives that go foul down the left- or right-field line. I saw a spectator caught square in the face by a line-drive at Camden Yards about 6 years ago, and she had to be carted off on a stretcher. These types of shots come incredibly quickly, and often catch spectators unawares. Anyone who sits in certain areas of the stands, down the first base and third base lines in particular, knows that they need to keep an eye on every pitch. Even for those who are paying attention, a screaming liner into the stands is a dangerous thing.
There is simply no equivalent to this in cricket. The cricket equivalent to a foul ball is an “edge,” but the different shape of a cricket bat and the way that cricket strokes are played (more often with the bat held vertically, rather than horizontally) means that an edge almost never travels far enough to get anywhere near the spectators. A few top edges have gone for six runs (i.e., over the fence) in the history of cricket, but it’s a very unusual occurrence.
When a ball does clear the fence in cricket, it’s usually because the batter has hit a four, and the ball has bounced one or more times on the field before bouncing over the fence and into the crowd. Sort of like a ground-rule double in baseball. The other possibility is that the batter has hit a six, a shot that clears the boundary on the full, like a home run. In both those cases, it is very unlikely for a spectator to be injured by the ball, because the spectators usually have plenty of warning that the ball is coming.
And it’s similar in baseball. When was the last time a baseball fan was injured after being caught unawares by a ground-rule double or a home run? Any injuries resulting from these shots are much more likely to be hand injuries from trying to catch the ball without a glove, or more general bruising caused by multiple people fighting to get the ball.
Added to all this is that fact that far fewer balls are hit in the air in cricket. The nature of the game, the shape of the bat, and the emphasis of batting training all work towards keeping the ball on the ground as much as possible. A perfect cover drive or pull shot or square cut is one that is belted downward toward the ground so that it rolls to the fence without the opposition having any chance to catch it on the full and get the batter out. Of course, balls are hit in the air quite frequently, sometimes by accident and sometimes on purpose, but “ground balls” are the norm rather than the exception. It possible to watch a whole day of cricket—especially test cricket—and never see the ball enter the spectator areas.
I don’t have a cite but I remember a televised England game in which the ball was smashed for 6. A spectator positioned himself underneath it cupped his hands above his head and the ball went straight through and hit him squarely in the forehead. He had a big round bloody mark there. Looked nasty, but he was essentially fine apart from a bruised head and ego.
I’d believe that.
Some people are too drunk or too uncoordinated to catch a ball like that, and leave themselves vulnerable to injury as a result. But that sort of thing is very, very unusual and unlikely in cricket, as it is with a home run in baseball.
Just searched and found out about this Indian player who was killed by a cricket shot hitting him in the temple. He didn’t die instantly but the shot caused haemorrhaging which sadly took him after a couple of days: Raman Lamba - Wikipedia
I was surprised to read about the two fatalities in the stands from errant throws.
It would be interesting to compare common surgeries between pitchers and bowlers. Is “Tommy John” surgery as commonplace in cricket? I would think not because ther is less stress on the elbow with the straight-arm bowl, but it must do a number on the shoulder.
You do get arm injuries, but yes you are right, shoulder injuries and stress fractures of the back are a major (and at times a career ending) danger.
And at least one umpire died in 2009,though he was rather aged
She was hit by a sixer and came with bleeding of her nose and we found on investigation we found her nasal bone had been fractured. She has come out of the surgery beautifully. She is absolutely alright," confirmed Dr Kanchan Sanyal, Medical Superintendent, Mallya Hospital.
Story here..