Spectators on the receiving end of a batsman’s fury

List of six incidents of spectators bearing the brunt of powerful hitting by batsmen.

A police constable lost vision on his right eye after getting hit on that region by a cricket ball off a David Miller six. Though the incident is an extremely sad, it once again brings notice to the fact that the spectators are often at risk, if not as much as the players. Amit Banerjee lists six incidents of spectators bearing the brunt of powerful hitting by batsmen.

1. Chris Gayle breaks girl’s nose: The powerful West Indian batsman is known for his ability to tear any bowling attack apart. With a major part of his batting diet being sixes, Gayle is a sight to watch when on song.

Gayle’s sixes however, turned injurious for a girl at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2012. Gayle smashed eight sixes during his knock of 81 off 48 deliveries. One of them hit the girl in question in the stands, with the girl sustaining an injury to her nose.

The girl was admitted to the Mallya Hospital, where Gayle visited shortly after learning about the incident. The young fan is believed to have asked Gayle to “keep hitting sixes and not worry”. Great gesture by the burly Jamaican!

2. Ball lands on spectator’s head at Dunedin: England were having a successful tour of New Zealand in February and March of 2013, having won both the Twenty20 International (T20I) and One-Day International (ODI) series 2-1.

During the first Test at University Oval, Dunedin, the visitors were off to a torrid start: they were bowled out for 167 on Day Two after play did not occur on the opening day. New Zealand got off to a strong start with the bat.

Hamish Rutherford was batting on 38, and was in the mood to attack Monty Panesar. He decided to swing his bat after getting down on one knee in the fifth delivery, smashing the ball over long-on. The ball however, landed on the head of a spectator sitting on the grass bank.

Given the pain that cricket balls are known to inflict on the human body, as well as the sensitivity of the skull, one would not have been surprised if the person died due to the blow due to internal bleeding. Fortunately, a dazed look is all that the victim had to offer following the blow.

3. Spectator smacked on the face at Visakhapatnam: India were up against Australia in the second game of the three-match ODI series in Visakhapatnam, after having whitewashed the two-match Test series earlier. Australia reached a score of 289 for three at the end of 50 overs, with Cameron White smashing 89 runs off 49 balls, including six fours and sixes.

One of the sixes was smashed towards long-on, where it bounced and went into the first level, where a spectator got smacked on the face. The agony might not have lasted for long for the person as India went on to win the match by five wickets, as well as the series 1-0.

4. Cheerleader gets hit on head in IPL 2013: Delhi Daredevils (DD) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) faced off in the 21st match of the sixth edition of IPL. Batting first, DD were trudging along for most part of the innings. With the powerful batting line-up that RCB possessed, Delhi had to make the most of the last two overs after reaching a score of 122 for five after 18 overs.

Kedar Jadhav smashed the first ball of the over towards square leg for a four. After a couple of singles, the strike was back to Kedar in the in the fifth ball of the Ravi Rampaul over. Jadhav smashed the ball towards deep extra-cover, with the ball clearing the boundary ropes with ease. It however, hit a cheerleader on the head, who was later seen being escorted by a colleague.

5. David Warner six lands on boy’s shoulder: David Warner was in the mood to murder the opposition bowling attack during Australia’s Pool A match against Afghanistan at WACA during ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. He managed to do exactly that, smashing 178 runs off 133 deliveries, including 19 fours and five sixes.

However, he did not expect to be the reason for a young Afghanistan fan to burst into tears. One of his sixes hit the shoulder of the unsuspecting fan, whose father was busy talking on his mobile phone. The boy later got an ice pack on his shoulder. Warner showed the humane side in him by paying the youngster a visit during the match to check on him as well as gifting him a pair of signed gloves.

6. Teenage boy dies after being hit on the head: A youngster was standing near the boundary line during a local cricket match in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, India.

According to a report on NDTV, Mohammad Azeem, the victim, fainted after the impact of the ball, which hit him in the abdomen. He died even before he could reach the hospital.

(Amit Banerjee, a reporter at CricketCountry, takes keen interest in photography, travelling, technology, automobiles, food and, of course, cricket. He can be followed on Twitter via his handle @akb287)

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