Every time a batsman gets hit hard on the helmet, a small shudder passes through, with those ghosts of the Phil Hughes incident still hovering somewhere close by. While nothing can change what happened on that fateful day in late November, Cricket Australia are going to do their best in order to avoid another such tragedy.
Hughes breathed his last nearly six months back when he was struck by a bouncer in a Sheffield Shield match, an incident which affected pretty much every cricket fan, and as a result CA have ordered an independent review to help increase safety in the sport.
"When this tragedy happened, I said that it was a freak accident, but it was one freak accident too many," CA chief executive James Sutherland said. "Never again do we want to see something like that happen on a cricket field.
"We have a deep responsibility and obligation to look into the events of that awful day to understand everything that occurred and then see what could be done to prevent a similar accident happening in the future.
"This is not an exercise designed to apportion blame on any individual for what took place. It is about making sure that as a sport we are doing everything in our power to prevent an accident of this nature happening again.
"There were certain measures put in place soon after Phillip's passing such as increasing the medical presence at all CA matches and working very closely with our helmet supplier to investigate the suitability of protective head equipment offered to all players.
"This review will help determine whether we need to implement further measures before the 2015-16 season."
The review will publish their findings before the start of the new Australian cricket season – final quarter of this year – and the committee will be headed by David Curtain QC, a Melbourne-based advocate.
Curtain and the rest will inquire into the full circumstances behind the tragic death of Phil Hughes, while also ensuring protective equipment in all CA matches are up to the highest order.
All the systems in place to attend to and prevent such tragedies will also be looked into, with the review also set to check up on how good the medical screening of the CA contracted players are.
The independent review, after going through everything, will make recommendations accordingly, over every match that comes under the banner of Cricket Australia.
