Australia net bowler in hospital after hit to the head

A net bowler working with the Australian team at The Oval was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure after he was struck on the head during training.

The medium-pacer, Jai Kishan, was bowling to David Warner and was hit by a shot that came back at him before he could react.

Kishan was treated immediately on the field by the medical staff present at the ground before being strapped onto a medivac and transferred to hospital. He was reportedly conscious and smiling before he left.

The Australian players, clearly shaken by the incident, suspended their training for around 20 minutes and gathered at the side of the nets. Aaron Finch, speaking to the media just after the incident, said Warner was particularly affected.

“Dave was obviously pretty shaken up,” Finch said. “The young guy seems to be in pretty good spirits at the moment. He’s obviously been taken off to hospital and will continue to be assessed just to make sure that everything is okay. But yeah, Dave was pretty shaken up, no doubt. It was a decent hit to the head. Hopefully everything keeps going well for the youngster and he’s back up and running shortly. It was tough to watch.”

While it is not a common occurrence for net bowlers to be hit during training, there have been a number of incidents that have raised concerns in the past. England Test bowler James Anderson has previously suggested that net bowlers could wear protective equipment, such as helmets.

“Yeah, that could be a decent idea, Finch said. “Again, it’s a bit like everything; it’s such a personal preference for net bowlers, and we’re very lucky to have so many of them come in and want to bowl to us and help us prepare as best we can for the game. But I think it’s going to be a personal preference. It’s lucky that there were so many good medical team on standby.

“It’s quite rare that somebody gets hit, and it’s obviously very unfortunate. The medical staff that were on hand, obviously our own medical staff, doctor and physio and also the medical staff, paramedics at the ground, did a great job in being there very quickly to assess and make sure that all the right protocols and right processes were put in place. Yeah, maybe — it is a difficult one because you get some guys that are coming in and who probably aren’t as well-equipped with their game to be able to deal with that.”