Hilton Cartwright retires mid-innings during Sheffield Shield to attend the birth of his second child

Western Australia all-rounder Hilton Cartwright had to abandon his innings midway during the Sheffield Shield encounter against Tasmania. He had to rush to the hospital during the Tea break on Day 2 when he was unbeaten on 52 after a complication with his wife, Tameka, hastened the proceedings.

Cartwright returned to the WACA after his child was safely delivered in the early hours of Tuesday, October 22. He was allowed to resume his unbeaten innings after Cooper Connolly's dismissal and added 13 runs to the existing score before being dismissed by Riley Meredith.

“My wife Tameka was only just 37 weeks pregnant so this match against Tassie was never meant to be affected by the birth of our second child which is why I chose to play," Cartwright told Fox Cricket.

"She experienced some complications over the weekend which led to a call from the obstetrician yesterday once I had already got to the ground. She recommended that the best course of action for the safety of mum and baby was to be induced that afternoon. Tasmania was made aware of this situation during the innings break," he added

Cartwright has represented Australia in two Tests and two ODIs, all of which came in 2017. He has made a strong start in the ongoing Sheffield Shield, recording a couple of cameos and picking up two wickets in the drawn clash against Queensland.

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"We had a plan in place" - Hilton Cartwright on discussions with the captain and coach

There have been past instances where players have been forced to be off the field midway through the contest to deal with personal emergencies. Earlier this year, Ravichandran Ashwin had to rush to Chennai during the third Test against England in Rajkot after his mother fell ill. He rejoined the team in the latter stages of the contest.

“Between myself, the coaches and (West Australian captain) Sam (Whiteman), we had a plan in place surrounding the time I needed to leave the ground at the tea break in the hope of returning to the crease at a later point in the innings," Cartwright said in the same interaction.

Western Australia recorded 332 runs in the first innings, attaining a sizeable lead before bundling out Tasmania for 137 in their second innings, to inch closer to a win.