The Indian and Australian women’s teams wore black armbands during their high-octane ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 semifinal clash at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Thursday as a tribute to Ben Austin, the 17-year-old Australian cricketer who passed away on the cricket field on Thursday morning.
Teenager Ben Austin succumbed to his injuries and died, which he sustained in the cricket nets earlier in the week. The aspiring cricketer hailing from Melbourne was hit by a ball thrown by the wanger (A device to throw the ball before the game). Austin, although he was wearing a helmet but was not wearing a stem guard, head of Cricket Victoria Nick Cummins confirmed. “The ball hit him in the neck in a similar accident that Phil Hughes suffered 10 years ago,” Cummins said.
“This tragedy has taken Ben from us, but we find some comfort that he was doing something he did for so many summers — going down to the nets with mates to play cricket,” Ben’s father Jace, wrote.
“We would also like to support his teammate who was bowling in the nets — this accident has impacted two young men and our thoughts are with him and his family as well,” he added.
In a post on social media, Ben’s club, Ferntree Cricket Club, urged to “put your bats out for Benny,” which is a reference to the late Phil Hughes.
Australian Ben Austin on the left and Phil Hughes on right. (Ferntree Gully Cricket Club/File photo)
In 2014, Hughes died in a Sydney hospital, two days after being struck on the head by a cricket ball in a Sheffield Shield match. He was 25 at the time. His death was caused by a cerebral hemorrhage, or bleeding on the brain, which shocked and saddened people across Australia and cricket fans all over the world.
Post the death of Hughes, a stem guard has been introduced as an attachment to the helmet to give extra protection on the back of the head and neck to the cricketers. However, the likes of David Warner have complained about having a limited neck moment, and Steven Smith during the 2023 Ashes said, “I just feel claustrophobic. I compare it to being stuck in an MRI scan machine.”
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In Navi Mumbai, India and Australia are playing for a place in the final against South Africa, who defeated England women’s team by 125 runs in the first semifinal in Guwahati on Wednesday to reach their maiden ODI World Cup final.
