Philip Hughes was enjoying a disciplined knock of 63* while playing for South Australia in a Sheffield Shield match held on 25th November 2014. But in the 49th over, New South Wales’ pace bowler Sean Abbott bowler a regularization bouncer. Despite the fact that Hughes was wearing a helmet, the ball hit the southpaw’s unprotected part of the head near the neck.
The implications of this incident at the Sydney Cricket Ground were widespread, as Hughes never gained consciousness. The dissected vertebral artery led to a subarachnoid hemorrhage, being the cause of Hughes’ untimely death. The incident caused ripples across the cricket fraternity. Many players called out for better protective gear.
Following this incident, the governors of cricket introduced several safety protocols and rule changes. The helmet’s design was modified, and the law of a concussion substitute came into effect.
The International Cricket Council law states that if a player is struck on the head or neck, then they must undergo a concussion test immediately on the field. This test is done by the team’s medical representative. If the medical representative suspects a concussion, then they will convey the same to the umpires, who in turn will communicate with the match referee. Following this, the confused player is allowed to be substituted by another player.
The concussed player can no longer be a part of the match. Moreover, the player who replaced the concussed player must be named before the match as potential substitutes in case of a concussion. The most important element of a concussion substitute is that it must be a like-for-like replacement. This means that if the concussed player is a batter, then only a batter can be called in as a replacement.
Though a like-for-like replacement, the concussed player can bat, bowl, and field. Within 36 hours of the match, the match referees must receive the report regarding the concussion substitute, including a good defense of how their concussion substitute was a like-for-like replacement.
Both the concussed player, and the substitute’s performance are included in the statistical records.
