cricketer

An Australian teenager has died after he was hit by a cricket ball during a practice session in Melbourne.

The 17-year-old was training in cricket nets in Ferntree Gully on Tuesday when he was struck in the head or neck by a ball from an automatic bowling machine. It’s believed he was wearing a helmet.

Emergency workers were called to the scene shortly before 17:00 local time (06:00 GMT) and the boy was rushed to Monash Children’s Hospital in critical condition. He was put on life support but died on Wednesday.

The boy’s local cricket club said it was “absolutely devastated” by the “tragic passing” of one its players and the teenager’s death “will be felt by all in our cricket community”.

The local cricket association president, Arnie Walters, said the boy was “both talented and popular in local cricket,” according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

“I know how heavily this news will land across our community and we will provide any and all support we can to our clubs and cricket family,” he said.

In a social media post, the boy’s cricket club extended their condolences to his family and friends and “to all of those who knew [him] and the joy that he brought”.

“We ask you to please respect the privacy of [the boy’s] family during this time,” the post said.

On behalf of the teenager’s family, the club also thanked Ambulance Victoria, the police and hospital staff.

The BBC has contacted Cricket Australia and Cricket Victoria for comment.

The incident comes just over a decade after Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes died after being struck on the neck by a ball while batting in the Sheffield Shield in 2014.

His death, for which a coroner ultimately found no-one was to blame, sparked improvements to safety equipment for those playing the sport.

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The 43-year-old pace bowler took 704 wickets in 188 Tests during an international career spanning 22 years.

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That “little bit” of progress was the start of a long journey.

Suppiah, with help from the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), a team of experts and his girlfriend and her family, realised something had to change.

“You do know that you have to eat and you have to get better, otherwise your organs will fail you,” said Suppiah, who was born in Malaysia and came to England to further his cricket and attend Millfield School.

Slow and steady was the key. He would eat eight small meals a day with the aim of returning to a healthy weight, but the journey to recovery was not a straight line.

“In the first instance I was recovering for the wrong reasons,” he said. “I was recovering because I didn’t want to let anyone down or I was doing it because I had no choice.

“My recovery was very up and down. I would sometimes put on weight, then I’d lose weight and vice-versa.

“Then I realised that actually, I’m just kidding myself and what I had to find out was the recovery was for my own good and for my own purpose. That’s when I started to believe in and trust the process.”

For Suppiah, that process included reading online case studies, discovering real-life stories and attending local support groups in the community. “I needed to connect with somebody else who was going through the same,” he said.