Watching a grueling contest between the bat and ball is every cricket fan's delight, but everyone would agree that watching the batter getting hit on the head is not a pleasing sight to witness.
A good quality bouncer is appreciated by everyone, but as soon as it strikes the batsman on the head, memory echoes back to 2014 as to what happened to Australia's Phil Hughes.
Hughes was struck on the back of the neck by a bouncer while batting for the West End Redbacks in a Sheffield Shield match against New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground on November 25, 2014, and this resulted in the demise of the cricketer.
So, from there on, even the mighty Australian team has had a changed outlook towards dealing with bouncers.
A similar thing happened during Ashes 2019 when Steve Smith got hit on the head by a ball bowled by Jofra Archer, and immediately the batsman laid down on the pitch, sending the entire Australian cricket team in worry.
Opening batsman David Warner has opened up on recently released documentary of Australian cricket team titled 'The Test' on Amazon Prime Video.
"When I saw him go down, we were all just like not again, not. Please it cannot happen," said Warner recalling the incident of Smith getting hit on the head during the second Ashes Test at Lord's Cricket Ground.
Australian cricketers Peter Siddle and Usman Khawaja also shared what it was like to see Smith laying on the ground after being hit.
"I think we were all in shock. I think the worst was when he was laying there. That was probably the scariest moment for us all," Siddle said.
"We never thought it would happen. Never thought you could get hit in the head and die from it. And that never crossed my mind, growing up, playing cricket, until it actually happened to Hughesy," Khawaja said.
Steve got hit twice on day four of the second Ashes Test match against England-- first on the elbow and then on the neck.
He fell down after the second hit received by the bowling of Archer and was attended by physios from both England and Australia.
Smith had an exceptional Ashes 2019 with the bat as he scored 774 runs, scoring the most number of runs in a series this century.
He is currently the number one batter in the ICC Test batsman rankings.
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