Melbourne, Oct 31 Australia and India players, match officials and staffers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) are wearing black armbands in memory of 17-year-old cricketer Ben Austin, who died in Melbourne after being hit by the ball on the neck during training. Players of both the teams also observed the moment of silence before the play started.
Austin died after being hit in the neck while facing a ball-throwing device in a nets session at Wally Tew Reserve in Ferntree Gully Cricket Club, before playing a local T20 game. Austin was rushed to hospital in critical condition but passed away at Monash Children's Hospital.
"The tribute will include: At approximately 15 minutes before play, both teams will stand with match officials and representatives from Ben’s Cricket Clubs, Cricket Victoria, and Cricket Australia on field, where a moment’s silence will be observed. Ben’s image will be on the big screen. Ben’s favourite song will be played following the tribute. Players from both teams, match officials and the MCG Arenas Team will wear black armbands,” said CA in a statement on Friday.
Previously, players from both India and Australia wore black armbands in the 2025 Women's ODI World Cup semi-final at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.
On Friday, Victoria and Tasmania teams put their bats out, wore black armbands and held a minute's silence as Austin's image was shown on the big screen before resuming their Sheffield Shield game at St Kilda's Junction Oval in Melbourne.
Similar scenes happened in Perth, for the clash between Western Australia and South Australia. Flowers and cricket bats were placed outside the Ferntree Gully Cricket Club, where the incident with Austin occurred on Tuesday.
The tragic incident revived memories of Australia batter Phillip Hughes dying after a cricket ball struck his neck during a Sheffield Shield match in Sydney in 2014.
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