Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird says his heart \u201cwas broken\u201d and lessons needed to be learned
\n melbourne
\nA promising 17-year-old Australian cricketer died on Thursday after being struck by a ball, with his family saying they were \u201cutterly devastated\u201d.
\nBen Austin was in the nets with a helmet on before a Twenty20 game in Melbourne on Tuesday when he was hit in the neck while facing a ball-throwing device.
\nHe was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
\n\u201cWe are utterly devastated by the passing of our beautiful Ben, who died earlier on Thursday morning,\u201d his father, Jace Austin, said in a statement.
\n\u201cThis tragedy has taken Ben from us, but we find some comfort that he was doing something he did for so many summers \u2014 going down to the nets with mates to play cricket.
\n\u201cWe would also like to support his teammate, who was bowling in the nets. This accident has impacted two young men and our thoughts are with him and his family as well.\u201d
\nAustin was an emerging bowler and batter, considered by his Ferntree Gully Cricket Club as a \u201cstar cricketer, great leader and an awesome young man\u201d.
\nDeaths in cricket are rare.
\nThe most recent high-profile one in Australia came in 2014 when Test star Phillip Hughes was killed when hit in the neck by a rising ball during a domestic Sheffield Shield game.
\nHis death stunned Australia and the world cricket community, sparking an outpouring of grief and ushering in stronger protocols around concussion and better safety equipment.
\nCricket Victoria chief Nick Cummins told broadcaster ABC there were similarities between the two tragedies.
\n\u201cThe ball hit him (Austin) in the neck in a similar accident that Phil Hughes suffered 10 years ago,\u201d Cummins said.
\nCricket Australia chair Mike Baird said his heart \u201cwas broken\u201d and lessons needed to be learned.
\n\u201cClearly there are things we have to learn from this,\u201d Baird told reporters. \u201cBut right now we are concerned about the family and trying to support them in every way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird says his heart \u201cwas broken\u201d and lessons needed to be learned melbourne A promising 17-year-old Australian cricketer died on Thursday after being struck by a ball, with his family saying they were \u201cutterly devastated\u201d. Ben Austin was in the nets with a helmet on before a Twenty20 game in Melbourne […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511738,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-511709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n