Phil Hughes family unhappy with Cricket Australia physiotherapist's testimony

Nearly two years after the untimely demise of young Australian batsman Phil Hughes, Cricket Australia Physiotherapist has reportedly reasoned the deceased batsman’s unawareness of concern over bowling tactics for his death.

On the fourth day of the week-long investigation carried out by NSW Coroner’s Court, the physiotherapist, Alex Kountouris said that against the claim made by Hughes’ family, that of their son having been subjected to hazardous bowling actions, it was partly Phil’s ignorance of the bowling tactics, which otherwise corresponded to the spirit of cricket.

As per reports on Cricbuzz, Hughes’ father, Greg, exhibited grave dejection and in a fit of anger, could be heard mouthing the words “liar” and “bullshit” during the court proceedings. His mother, on the other hand, was seen breaking into tears.

Kountouris further said that Hughes' demise was one of just two cases he had ever seen of someone losing their life to an injury of that mild nature. He also clarified that he had not had a word with the umpires about that Sheffield Shield match for preparing this report.

The report was based only on the basis of the medical scenario and not the on-field incident.

In the lead up to the investigation, it was also known that no ambulances were available in the Sydney area on the day of the incident. As per reports, about 25 ambulances operated in Sydney that afternoon, but none free for service.

The ambulance arrived at the SCG half an hour after the 25-year-old collapsed. As per ambulance authorities, the first call from the stadium did not emphasize on the urgency of the matter. It was only in the second call made to the hospital that the authorities revealed the cricketer was unconscious.

In a very unfortunate incident, Hughes was struck on the base of the neck at the Sydney Cricket Ground on November 25, 2014, from Sean Abbotts’ bouncer. He became unconscious before receiving resuscitation and was taken to the Vincent’s Hospital. Hughes’ succumbed to his injury and was pronounced dead after fighting for life for 2 days.

As a result of Hughes' death, several calls were made for improving the safety of batting helmets and this resulted in new designs that have additional guards in the rear of the helmet.

The investigation, which began on October 10, is slated to end on October 14.