‘Bats out for Benny’: Teen killed by cricket ball honored with #batsoutforben campaign

Australia’s cricket community has begun raising their bats in a gesture to remember teenage cricketer Ben Austin after he was killed by a ball hitting his neck during a practice session, in an incident in Melbourne on Tuesday described as similar to the death of former Test player Phillip Hughes in 2014.

The 17-year-old was wearing a helmet but not a neck protector, and while the incident is likely to prompt calls to make such protection mandatory at the community level – as it already is among elite players – cricket officials said the priority should be supporting Austin’s family and the boy who threw the ball with a training device known as a sidearm or ‘wanger’.

Austin’s cricket club Ferntree Gully posted on Facebook on Thursday a call for people to “hold out your bats for Benny”, mimicking the gesture that followed Hughes’ death. Dozens of other posts under the hashtag #batsoutforben have followed, highlighting the impact the incident has had on the Australian cricket community.

Cricket Victoria CEO Nick Cummins was emotional in his address to the media on Thursday. “He is the classic Australian kid that we are all very proud of,” he said. “An active, great boy, very involved in his team, very popular. And that’s what makes it so difficult: it’s a very bright light that is dimmed.”

Jayce Austin, Ben’s father, said in a statement that the family was “totally devastated” by the death of “our beautiful Ben.”

“This tragedy has taken Ben from us, but we take some comfort in the fact that he was doing something he had done for so many summers: going to the nets with friends to play cricket,” he said.

“He loved cricket and it was one of the joys of his life. We would also like to support his teammate who was bowling in the nets. This accident has affected two young men and our thoughts are also with him and his family.”

Cummins said details are still “fairly sparse” given the trauma suffered by the people involved. “A group of boys were having a practice session and one boy was hit with a ball thrown with a sidearm and hit him in the neck, in a similar accident to Phil Hughes,” Cummins said.

As well as the measure for people to leave cricket bats behind, commemorations are planned for Friday’s T20 against India at the MCG and the upcoming Sheffield Shield matches, and some grassroots cricketers across the country plan to wear black armbands in respect for the avid cricketer from Melbourne’s east.

Cummins said that after the impact, Austin was treated at the scene by members of the club with first aid experience, emergency services arrived immediately and he was rushed to Monash Hospital. “He received care very quickly, unfortunately he was on life support and is clearly in a situation where he is unlikely to recover,” he said.

Cummins confirmed that Austin was not wearing a neck protector, which has become a controversial topic in cricket circles since Hughes’ death. Cricket Australia considered, but decided not to make neck guards mandatory for community cricket in 2023.

The cricket director said there would be a full investigation into the incident but this was not the time for hasty decisions. “The temptation at times like these is to turn to solutions,” Cummins said. “Right now our focus is on providing support and guidance to people who have experienced the trauma.”

“It’s often in response to a tragedy that people feel like they have to do something right away. There will be a time to do something, we just have to make sure we focus on the people who are directly affected at that time.”

Since Hughes’ death, safety measures have been introduced which now require all batters facing fast or medium pace bowling in Cricket Australia sanctioned competitions to wear both a helmet to the latest standard and a neck protector.

While the same rules apply to helmets in community cricket, junior and grassroots leagues have avoided the mandate for neck guards, which are seen as restrictive and uncomfortable in some quarters. There are also no explicit requirements for safety equipment when looking at handguns.

The governing body issued guidelines for community cricket in 2023, “strongly recommending” that everyone wear a neck protector in addition to a helmet, but no mandate was forthcoming. Its own FAQ document explained why there was no mandate.

“CA recognizes that a transition period is necessary for participants to understand how to play with neck guards, how to fit and measure them so they are suitable for play, and the potential costs associated,” the report said.

A leading neck protector, known as Stemguard, costs $70 for adults and $45 for children and can be attached to the back of helmets.

Cricket Australia chairman Mike Baird announced on Thursday that the rules would be reviewed. “Obviously we have to learn from this, but right now we are concerned about the family and we are trying to support them in every way we can,” he said.