Phil Hughes in critical condition after being hit by a bouncer

Hughes suffered a critical injury and was transported to St Vincent's Hospital.

Australian batsman Phil Hughes went into critical condition and had to taken to hospital on Tuesday after being hit on the head by a bouncer in by Sean Abbott in a Sheffield Shield match. He was hit by a ball while attempting a pull shot.

Television clips show him “standing dazed, looking at his feet before crashing face-first onto the pitch”. The other players and the umpires quickly rushed and called for help immediately.

“The patient suffered a critical injury and was transported to St Vincent’s Hospital in a critical condition,” an Ambulance NSW official told AFP.

Cricket Australia said in a live match blog on its website that Hughes had “been leaving the short balls, had a go at this one, misjudged it and hit in the head. He blacked out and fell badly”.

Medical staff worked on the 25-year-old, reportedly including mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, for more than 30 minutes before he was taken from the field ahead of a helicopter landing on the pitch.

“Clearly the priority is Phil’s health and we want to keep his family fully informed. We don’t have any updates on Phil’s health at the moment,” a Cricket NSW spokesman said.

South Australian cricket officials said a statement was expected to be issued shortly.

Play was suspended in the game and then abandoned for the day.

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