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Thanks Matt. So well expressed.

Thanks for the reminder that it's healthy to allow somebody to go through the grief process from the other end, too. Of course Shane Abbott is going to be thinking it's his fault Phil Hughes is dead; that's a normal and natural thing in this kind of circumstance.

Thank you Matt. This is such thoughtful and kind writing. So nicely put.

Thanks, Matt. Some feedback from a disabled athlete for you.

That’s core to cricket and shouldn’t be reduced say by banning the bouncer

Why not? It's a cowardly act whose intent is to maim or worse. Maybe we should re-introduce spear tackles to rugby.

Note that the Blackcaps nearly killed a Pakistani cricketer a couple of weeks ago, any reaction in NZ?

Why not? It’s a cowardly act whose intent is to maim or worse.

That’s just nonsense, Don. You’re seriously claiming that a bowler who delivers a short ball is intending to kill the batsman?

The ability to vary the length of a delivery is integral to the game.

Hughes wasn’t intimidated by the ball that killed him. He was trying to hook it to the boundary, got through the shot too soon and was hit on the back of the neck. He was an aggressive batsman, playing the game.

Maybe we should re-introduce spear tackles to rugby.

That’s a terrible analogy. Spear tackles have never been a legitimate part of rugby, for obvious reasons. Bouncers are bowled many times in every test match. They’re an element of the contest.

(On the other hand, it is illegal to bowl a full toss above the waist – a beamer – because the batsman doesn’t have enough time to avoid it. Bowlers also aren’t allowed to consistently bowl bouncers.)

Note that the Blackcaps nearly killed a Pakistani cricketer a couple of weeks ago, any reaction in NZ?

I presume you read this in Mark Reason’s clickbait column, rather than actually saw it. Reason’s characterisation of the incident is highly (and apparently deliberately) misleading, as if the New Zealand cricketers whooped and cheered over Shehzad’s prone body.

Here’s the clip. They cheer at taking the wicket then see Shehzad is injured and gather around him. He, too, was looking to hook the ball, rather than avoid it – he was on 176 and flaying the bowling. It was a nasty injury, but the real concern is that the ball got through the grill of his helmet.

."What’s the spirit in which we engage with questions around disability? We talk about values a lot in our sector, but I’m thinking after what I’ve seen in the last few days that spirit is something different"
That last question you have asked is a good one

Shane Abbott's grief: I suffered intensely the effects of a sudden death of a team member when I was the manager of the team.

There are two unfinished two word sentences that haunt you night and day, week after week and on for an awful number of years.

What if.....?

If only.....

Thanks Russell. I did see that video at the time. My concern was not so much with the immediate reaction but a total silence from the more general NZ cricket community about another near death incident.

I did read that Reason article. It was pretty shit. Not because of the underlying points but because of the way he constantly wants to lay the sporting woes of the world at NZ's feet and twists facts to suit that narrative.

I do love cricket, I was brought up on the Windies smashing England and loved them for it. But it was Lloyd and Richards that I particularly admired (although Joel "Big Bird" Garner was pretty amazing).

That said, I still hate bouncers.

Thanks Russell. I did see that video at the time. My concern was not so much with the immediate reaction but a total silence from the more general NZ cricket community about another near death incident.

I think that's a very fair point. It really wasn't mentioned.

That said, I still hate bouncers.

It's an issue that goes all the way back to the Bodyline tour.

Imagine the regular grief and outrage if Forestry was an Olympic sport...

Dear oh dear!

"maim", "aggressive", "flaying", "smashing"

This is Cricket? Right?