Traumatic cricket‐related fatalities in Australia: a historical review of media reports

Objective: To undertake a historical review of direct trauma-related deaths in Australian cricket, both organised and informal. Design, setting and participants: We conducted an extensive search of digitised print media (three databases) and traditional scientific literature (two databases) for on-field cricket incidents in Australia that resulted in deaths during the period 1858–2016. Main outcomes and measures: Numbers of cricket-related deaths by decade; type of cricket match (organised match or training, or informal play); site of fatal injury (eg, head, chest); activity at the time of the incident (eg, batting, fielding, watching). Results: 174 relevant deaths were identified. The number peaked in the 1930s (33 fatalities), with five deaths in the past 30 years. There were 83 deaths in organised settings, and 91 deaths in informal play (at school, 31; backyard, street or beach cricket, 60). Of the 72 deaths in organised settings for which the activity of the deceased was reported, 45 were batsmen, 11 were fielders, six were wicketkeepers, one a bowler, and three were umpires. Of the 45 batsmen, 26 died of injuries resulting from a blow by a ball to the head, 13 of blows to the chest, three of peritonitis, at least two of vertebral artery dissection, and one of tetanus. None of the five cricket-related deaths over the past 30 years were caused by head injuries. Conclusions: There appears to have been a substantial decline in the number of cricket-related deaths in recent years, probably linked with the widespread use of helmets by batsmen and close-in fielders.