5.5 oz ball travelling at 140KPH (the speed of the fatal ball) striking a man 22 yards away? How much energy is transferred?
NOt sure about which formula to use.
If it’s kinetic energy the formula is 1/2mv2
Mass = 0.156 kg.
V= 39m/s
so 118 Joules? by comparison the energy of a bullet fired from a .22 pistol is about 159 joules..
I think the place he was struck is more relevant than the overall energy though. AFAIK Hughes was hit behind and below the ear. Whereas Shehzad was hit just above and behindthe ear playing a similar shot to a similar delivery. Shehzad got off with ‘just’ a skull fracture. A few centimetres lower, and he might have been killed also.
No matter what happens, there’s always going to be the risk of death caused by a freak accident. A mistimed swing, a ball hitting a player in the chest, another tragic death, and then what - mandatory chest pads? And how close is too close for fielders to stand in front of the batsman?
Maybe - maybe - consider a ban on bouncers at youth level, but I don’t think the chance of this happening again warrants any changes at first class level.
*After the dreadful shock – but it was over before the pain could register – there was confusion for a time while it seemed like people were trying to do something for him that he couldn’t understand.
Then stillness.
Then –
He was still in whites and baggy green, but no helmet. The man coming up the steps was dressed the same too, and he gave him a matey grin. “Hi, I’m Vic. You’re early. So was I – Bright’s Disease, but that’s all over now. Anyway, we put you in at third drop. Go out and enjoy yourself, and I’d listen to what the Don had to say if I were you.”
The outfield looked green but fast. Big boundaries, but a good shot that beat the field would still go all the way. And the crowd… was like nothing he’d ever seen.
He was welcomed by the trim, smiling man fielding at cover, who put him at his ease on his way to the wicket. The Don came down the pitch for a quiet word.
“Barney’s hitting a good length. There’s a bit in the pitch, but if you watch the ball really close you’ll find it’s fair for both sides. Don’t try and tire him out, it won’t work here; but you’ll stay fresh all day too. Pay no attention to the score or the clock – just play your natural game, your best against their best. Mind, if you nick one anywhere within two yards of Wally he’ll pouch it, and don’t take any singles to Jack until you’ve scored at least fifty.”
The Don turned to go back to the non-striker’s end, before half-turning and adding, “Oh – and you’d better get him to give you back your bat too. He gets all the newcomers with that one.”
When the laughter was over – and it wasn’t like sledging any more – the new boy looked down the pitch to where the great S.F. was waiting to run in. And the Timeless Test carried on.*
I’m a big softy and usually pretty fussy how sentimentality gets expressed. However, that’s very nicely done. Is it yours?
The current test between Pakistan and New Zealand is positively spooky. Barely anyone is talking to anyone on the opposition during play, let alone sledging. Wickets fall and no one celebrates. Batsmen don’t even seem that bothered to be out, just trudge off to be alone with their thoughts. Players are on autopilot - Brendan McCullum’s autopilot has seen him hit the fastest Test century for NZ, a fact he barely acknowledged, though the Pakistani team all congratulated him; he just went back to grimly belting the offending item for 6 after 6. This game is happening but no one has their heart in it yet it is their job, so they fulfil their duty. It is oddly moving.
It is. I like cricket. If the universe is run right, that’ll be what happened next.
(Supporting cast in order of mention: Victor Trumper, Don Bradman, Jack Hobbs, S.F. Barnes, Wally Hammond)
Over here a lot of the talk has been how fortunate Ahmad Shahzad was in retrospect. I suspect that thought is pretty firmly etched in all minds there.
Very well done.
Nor would the sort of helmets now worn by baseball base coaches have protected Coolbaugh himself from that precise blow, actually. But they do afford a measure of safety against other hard lined fouls, and they don’t interfere with the coach’s mobility or function.
Well very nice it is too.
Though I’m very much an atheist I reckon that if there has to be an afterlife then I’ll take your version.
I’d be in the bar though, avoiding the West Indies pace attack circa 1974!
In the stands surely - with a couple of tinnies in the eskie and watching Bradman tackle Barnes (a match-up that never happened on Earth) on a pitch that kept both of them honest. 
Ah yes, if not playing is an afterlife option as well then I’ll happily kick back and watch the big boys go at it.
Like to see the Don facing Malcom Marshall. And someday in the very distant future against reverse swing.
That was an odd day indeed; McCullum hit the 8th fastest test century of all time, they took 7 Pakistani wickets for just 94 runs, and there was no exuberance, no celebration, it was all a silent wake for Hughes. Somebody made the good point that with the IPL such a force now, all the cricketers know each other not just as fellow professionals, but as team mates and friends.
Yes, I would have been fourteen at the time. The newpaper headline carried Lever’s verbatim quote: “I THOUGHT I’D KILLED HIM”. Mind you, the helmet uptake took many years, and the likes of Viv Richards and Ian Botham never bothered, even though Andy Roberts gave Botham some unplanned dentistry as a youngster.
There’s a famous photo of Brian Close batting against Holding with, of course, no helmet - he’s got his head and his gloves out of the way of the short one, and Holding’s welcome to try and hurt him if he thinks he’s good enough. Close was a brave man even into his forties; but also lucky never to get the one ball with his name on it. Let’s be glad it’s been such a rarity historically.
I don’t think there will be any legislation brought in as a result of this accident - nor any significant change to the helmet design. The fact is, it was an amazingly freakish set of circumstances.
As several have pointed out, the ball actually beat him for pace - Hughes was too fast for it. He swung too early and his whole body had pivoted before the ball got too him - resulting in him being hit behind the ear. The ‘slow bouncer’ is a legitimate delivery to attempt to fool the batsman into mistiming a simple catch. Whether it was a deliberate slow bouncer, or just a misjudgment by Hughes, we don’t know.
Either way, I think you have to accept, based on the amount of cricket played around the world over the last century or so - it is a reasonably safe game. Sure, any sport played with a hard ball (cricket, baseball, polo, hockey etc) can have impact injuries from accidents - but we can’t wrap every player up in cotton wool.
Sometimes living life involves a bit of risk - and usually so small as to be almost incalculable. It’s a bit like the old chestnut about flying - Hughes was actually risking his life more driving to the ground than actually batting.
Yesterday Hillel Awasker, an Israeli umpire died after being struck by ball -
http://www.espncricinfo.com/other/content/story/805703.html
Umpire and bowler are at risk aside from the batsman. And as we know, Injury risk is the greatest at short leg. no one wants to field there. Body blows are common.
He certainly was. He famously got hit flush on the forehead fielding at short leg and called out, “Catch it!”
The story of that event and a bit of his last Test innings facing Holding is here. It’s scary stuff.