http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/28/sports/cricket/phillip-hughes-australian-cricket-star-dies-after-being-hit-by-ball.html 2014-11-27 12:20:47 Phillip Hughes, Australian Cricket Star, Dies After Being Hit by Ball Mr. Hughes’s death, in what was called a freakish accident, drew expressions of grief, shock and disbelief from fellow players and sporting figures around the world. === LONDON — Two days after he was struck by a ball in what was called a freakish accident, an Australian cricketer, Phillip Hughes, died in a Sydney hospital on Thursday, drawing expressions of grief, shock and disbelief from fellow players and sporting figures around the world. Mr. Hughes, 25, had represented Australia in dozens of international matches — in both one-day games and the longer contests called test matches — and was regarded as a player with a bright future. But his death stunned many fans of cricket’s thrilling duel between bowlers and batters in protective pads and helmets. It is not unusual for the ball to strike players, but fatalities are rare. Cricket is a national sport in Australia, which prides itself on the skill and courage of its players. “The head injury he suffered was catastrophic,” Dr. Tony Grabs, a trauma specialist at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, told reporters. “Despite extensive surgery,” he said, Mr. Hughes, “did not make very much improvement, and unfortunately, as a consequence of the injury, he died.” Mr. Hughes was playing in a domestic game on Tuesday when the ball struck him in a part of the neck that was not protected by his helmet. The force was such that his vertebral artery was pierced, news reports said. Physicians induced a coma as they sought to save him. Cricket balls resemble baseballs but are heavier and routinely reach speeds of around 90 miles per hour. Bowlers use various techniques, from relatively slow spin bowling, which seeks to outwit batters, to so-called bouncers that are meant to rear up from the ground and hurtle toward the batter’s upper body. In a tally, The Associated Press listed only four deaths since 1870 caused by cricket balls striking batters. Before Mr. Hughes, the most recent was Darryn Randall, 32, in South Africa last year, The A.P. said. “The word tragedy gets used too often in sport, but this freak accident is now real-life tragedy,” said James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, the sport’s governing body in that country. “Without doubt, he was a rising star whose best cricket was in front of him,” he said. As cricket fans mourned, the Australian flag was lowered to half-staff over cricket grounds in Sydney and Melbourne. Cricket stars from Australia, Britain, India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and elsewhere registered shock, and the Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, said that Mr. Hughes had been “a young man living out his dreams.” “What happened has touched millions of Australians,” he said. “For a young life to be cut short playing our national game seems a shocking aberration.” Shane Warne, an Australian sports commentator and former spin bowler, The ball that struck Mr. Hughes had been bowled by Sean Abbott, 22, and some sporting figures extended their sympathy to him. “That ball could have been bowled at any time in any game,” Jonathan Agnew, the British cricket commentator and former player,