Sad day for cricket, Phillip Hughes passes away at the age of 25

Australia batsman, Phillip Hughes, who suffered a head injury after being hit by a bouncer in a Sheffield Shield match, passed away as a result of the injuries, Cricket Australia (CA) said. On Tuesday, Hughes collapsed face-first after a Sean Abbott bouncer hit him at the base of the skull. He had to undergo an emergency surgery before being placed in an induced coma.

Cricket Australia released the following statement from team doctor Peter Brukner, announcing the 25-year-old’s death:

“We are extremely sad to announce that Phillip Hughes has passed away at the age of 25,”

“It is my sad duty to inform you that a short time ago Phillip Hughes passed away. He never regained consciousness following his injury on Tuesday. He was not in pain before he passed and was surrounded by his family and close friends.”

“As a cricket community we mourn his loss and extend our deepest sympathies to Phillips family and friends at this incredibly sad time. Cricket Australia kindly asks that the privacy of the Hughes family, players and staff be respected.”

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Hughes’ untimely death has sent shockwaves through the cricketing world. Test cricketers, Brad Haddin, Steven Smith, Shane Watson, David Warner, Nathan Lyon, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Starc and Daniel Smith were among a stream of personalities from the sport who visited Hughes’ bedside in the past few days. Australia captain Michael Clarke has been an almost constant presence at his close friend’s side at St Vincent’s Hospital since the freak incident while Ricky Ponting, Simon Katich, Phil Jaques and Brett Lee also visited the hospital.

Few others like Aaron Finch, Matthew Wade, Peter Siddle, Peter Forrest, George Bailey, Ed Cowan, Justin Langer as well as CA’s CEO James Sutherland and high performance manager Pat Howard flew in interstate while coach Darren Lehmann was also present.

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He underwent emergency surgery and was put in an induced coma but never regained consciousness.

“He was not in pain before he passed and was surrounded by his family and close friends,” Cricket Australia said.

“As a cricket community we mourn his loss and extend our deepest sympathies to Phillips family and friends at this incredibly sad time.”

Questions about the response time of ambulances dispatched to the stadium have also been raised. The head of New South Wales Ambulance was to be called before the state health minister Jillian Skinner on Thursday after the ambulance authority issued conflicting statements about their response times.

The arrival of the first ambulance took 15 minutes, NSW Ambulance clarified in a statement on Wednesday. The state’s median response time for the highest priority “life-threatening cases” was just under eight minutes in 2013-14, according the authority’s statistics.