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Phil Hughes's death rings an alarm bell in Mumbai maidans

School cricketers mourn Aussie cricketer even as concerns are raised over cramped playing space and lack of medical facilities

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Young cricketers pay tribute to Phil Hughes in Mumbai on Thursday; with more than one match played simultaneously, the probabilty of a player getting hit on the head is high in city’s maidans
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The usually sprightly school cricketers went about their Harris Shield game at the Shivaji Park sombrely on Thursday morning. Waking up to news of young Australian cricketer Phil Hughes's death had sent a shiver down their spine and made them think about their safety and the facilities available at the famous maidans.

The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) said that they will soon take a decision on ensuring the presence of atleast a doctor and an ambulance at these maidans during school cricket matches.

The young players observed a two-minute silence as a mark of respect for Hughes. VN Sule Guruji defeated Anjuman-I-Islam by nine wickets, but there was no celebrations. Even individual achievements were quietly acknowledged.

Guruji wicket-keeper batsman Rishikesh Padwal had been keeping a tab through Watsapp ever since Hughes was hit by a Sean Abbott bouncer. He had been hoping that the 25-year-old Australian opener would recover and return to action. But it wasn't to be.

"We read about Hughes death on on our group chat. It is difficult for us deal with it even though he was not an Indian. He was a cricketer just like any of us," said the 15-year-old.

"Now, I will always wear a helmet even if I am batting against spinners. Being a wicket-keeper, I would mostly avoid wearing it while 'keeping up to spinners but not anymore," said Padwal.

Padwal's teammate Yash Chaurasia, 15, a fast bowler, loves bowling fast and intimidate batsmen with his bouncers. He was sympathetic towards Sean Abbott, the Aussie bowler whose bouncer felled Hughes.

"He was just doing his job. As a fast bowler, you have to keep intimidating the batsman. It was a just an accident. I won't stop bowling bouncers but will be a bit cautious," said Chaurasia.

Meanwhile, batsman Ninad Thakur, 15, will be cautious while dealing with the short balls. "I am not scared, but will try to play with correct technique. And mostly duck them," said Thakur.

While, their approach to short-pitched stuff may be different after Thursday, one thing that does worry these budding is the availability of medical facilities at these grounds.

Usually at any maidan in the city be it Azad Maidan, Cross Maidan or Shivaji Park, more than one match is played simultaneously. So, one game's mid-wicket fielder is shoulder to shoulder with another contest's short leg. And more of than not cricket balls are whizzing past fielders who are standing with their backs to another pitch.

In this dangerous set up, the probabilty of a player getting hit on the head is high and there is absolutely no medical facilities in case of a major injury.

Balmohan Marathi Vidyamandir coach Nilesh Raut agreed. "There is no solution for this. We have to play with what we have. Mumbai is a city that lacks grounds, where kids can play freely. So we play here, but we always have to be alert," he said.

Raut, who coaches Bombay Scottish as well as Podar International School, said he has made it compulsory for batsman to wear helmet all the time.

"We have a rule. You have to have a helmet even if you are a cricketer," he added. "Parents are also very concerned about the safety of their kids especially, after Hughes incident," he said.

However, he appealed to the authorities to Mumbai School Sports Association and Mumbai Cricket Association to provide all the facilities to grounds in Mumbai. "Every school have their own private medical kit. However, we should have a doctor on every ground for emergency and an ambulance. I am sure that a rich body Mumbai Cricket Association can arrange for these things," said Raut while preparing his U-14 boys for the upcoming Giles Shield tournament.

Maidan secretary and managing committee member Nadeem Memon agreed that MCA will have to address this concern.

"We will consider giving the best of medical facilities to the cricketers playing all the major tournaments including school cricket. We will try to ensure that there are doctors available as well as ambulances for emergency. We will definitely discuss this in our managing committee meeting," said Memon.

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