Staff Writer – Archi
Sports news. Two days ago West Indian batting great Brian Lara has joined thousands to pray for injured Australian batsman Phil Hughes’ speedy recovery but feels cricket is a “dangerous game” and there is always an “element of risk” in the game.
Insisting that the whole of the cricketing world is praying for Hughes, Lara believes it would be impossible to guarantee that a similar incident like this won’t happen in the game again in future. “It’s very unfortunate. Batsmen are always in danger of all sorts of different things. You wouldn’t wish something like that to happen at all,” Lara said.
“It’s so sad what took place and you just have to pray. I know that the whole of Australia and the whole of the cricketing world are hoping the best comes out of this and pray he comes back to full health,” he was quoted as saying by the ‘Daily Telegraph’ in London.
“It’s a sport and you’re always going to have that element of risk. This is an unfortunate rare situation. “It is a dangerous game. Along with rugby and rugby league, really tough games, and motor racing, there is that element of risk,” Lara said.
Hughes is fighting for life as he remained in a critical condition after being struck on the head in a freak accident during a Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground here on Tuesday.
Despite being one of the most feared batsman to have ever played the game, Lara recalled some of his scary moments with short pitched deliveries. “I suppose the authorities will be a little bit worried about something like this, how it happened and if it will ever happen again. I felt pretty safe playing. I knew the element of risk. A little prayer in the morning and hope for the best,” he said.
Phil Hughes. Photo courtesy www.images99.com
“It is part of the meaning of sport. It is unfortunate. But it is hard for me to lament on all the protective gear and things at this present time. It is just wishing this young man to snap out of it as quickly as possible, get back on his feet and resume his career,” Lara said.
The West Indian recalled being hit on the head a couple of times during his career by quicks like Shoaib Akhtar and Glenn McGrath but said the batsmen accepted that facing hostile pace bowling was “part of the game”.
“I think they’ve done their best over the years to curb it and manage it as best as possible,” he added.
“But it’s part of a fast bowlers armoury and it’s very hard to take that totally away from them. There are some batsmen who feed on that sort of attack and I don’t really believe it’s anything that should effect fast bowlers and the rules governing that.”
In that hope, he was given solace by the experience of his former West Indies teammate Phil Simmons, who was struck by a short ball during a tour match against Gloucestershire in 1988. “I think he didn’t have a helmet and it was a similar thing, he had brain surgery,” he recalled. “But he was back on the cricket field 12 months later. It was a devastating situation back then.”
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