You can’t guard against everything — Lara
BATTING LEGEND, WARNE AGREE CRICKET IS AS SAFE AS IT CAN BE
Cricket is as safe as it can be despite two tragic deaths in the last six months, according to West Indies batting legend Brian Lara. Ankit Keshri, a former captain of Under- 19 team state team Bengal in India, died on Monday after a freak fielding collision with his teammate Sourabh Mondal as both ran to catch the ball.
That follows the death of Australian batsman Phil Hughes in November, who died after being struck by a bouncer on the back of the neck from Sean Abbott during a Sheffield Shield match in Sydney.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Icons Cup all- star charity golf tournament at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club yesterday, Lara, 45, said he had been involved in two similar incidents during his career, but added that little could be done to avoid fatalities from such freak accidents.
Dislocated elbow
Lara collided with Sri Lankan fielder Marvan Atapattu in a triangular series One Day International ( ODI) match between Sri Lanka and West Indies in Kandy in 2001, leaving him out for a year with a dislocated elbow. He was also struck on the back of the head by bowler Shoaib Akhtar in a Champions Trophy match between West Indies and Pakistan in Southampton in 2004.
“These were definitely freak accidents,” said Lara of the deaths of Keshri and Hughes. “When Phil Hughes passed away, past deaths came up on the internet and you realised that there have been quite a few in the last 20 to 30 years.
“But you know we play a tough sport, I worry about boxers but cricket has an element of danger too, we’ve seen a couple [ of examples] come to light in terms of exactly what happens [ when things go wrong]. It’s sad but I believe they are freak accidents,” added The Prince of Port of Spain, who has 11,953 Test runs and 10,405 runs in ODIs.
“I count myself very lucky,” he added of both his incidents. “But we play a sport [ and sport can be dangerous], I remember every time I used to come home as a youngster [ after a game] my mother wasn’t interested in how my runs I had scored, she was just like: ‘ Are you OK? Did you break any bones?’ Even from those days you knew how dangerous sport could be.”
count myself very lucky. But we play a sport [ and sport can be dangerous], I remember every time I used to come home as a youngster [ after a game] my mother wasn’t interested in how many runs I had scored, she was just: ‘ Are you OK? Did you break any bones?’ Even from those days you knew how dangerous sport could be.” Brian Lara ( l ef t ) | Former West Indies captain
Aggression important
Lara welcomed improved safety measures in cricket, but said the sport couldn’t lose aggression, implying that when there’s competition not every freak occurrence could be safeguarded against.
“I’ve seen [ Sri Lankan batsman Kumar] Sangakkara has a new helmet where he’s taped up at the back and if it’s not uncomfortable, it’s a good addition.
Australian spin wizard Shane Warne — who is also participating in the Icons Cup — said both recent incidents, although tragic, were “just one of those things”.
Warne himself was also in- volved in an on- field collision with teammate Jason Gillespie, in which the latter broke his leg in a Test against Sri Lanka in Kandy in 1999. “When you see any sporting incident like that it’s horrific and you wish it had never happened, but in the history of the game of cricket it’s a pretty safe sport,” said the 45- year- old who took 708 wickets in 145 Tests.
“Unfortunately there have been a couple of incidents recently that were unfortunate and ideally I wish they had never happened but I think everybody does a great job making sure the safety of players is paramount. They rope in the boundaries and make sure everyone wears protective gear like the helmet, everything like that. Now this is one of those collisions on the field that doesn’t happen very often, it’s a rare incident and is just on those things you wish had never happened.”