Luke Fletcher was struck on the head while delivering his first ball of the night © Getty Images
Nottinghamshire’s seam bowler, Luke Fletcher, has been struck on the head in a serious-looking incident at Edgbaston, with the T20 Blast match against Birmingham Bears being suspended while he received treatment.
The incident occurred in the fourth over of Birmingham Bears’ run-chase at Edgbaston, as Fletcher was delivering his first ball of the night to Sam Hain.
The ball was struck with exceptional power, straight back at Fletcher, who had no time to react as he was struck flush on the head.
Horrible injury to @fletcherluke but looks like he’s doing well off to hospital #legend pic.twitter.com/dXsdYsGSqW
— Jake Ball (@JakeBall) July 8, 2017
The umpire signalled instantly for medical assistance, and it was clear from the reaction of the players that the incident was potentially very serious indeed. Fletcher did not appear to lose conciousness, however, and he was able to walk from the field with the aid of a physio.
He was attended to by paramedics in the dressing-room, and has been taken to hospital for further examination. His team-mate, Jake Ball, later tweeted a picture of Fletcher, wearing an oxygen mask but with his thumbs up, adding: “Horrible injury to @fletcherluke but looks like he’s doing well off to hospital #legend”
Lisa Pursehouse, the Nottinghamshire chief executive, later issued a statement: “Luke Fletcher has been taken to hospital to assess the extent of the head injury sustained in the NatWest T20 Blast between the Birmingham Bears and the Notts Outlaws and an update on his condition will be communicated in due course.
“He was able to walk off the field of play and, after receiving treatment from the medical staff, it was recommended he go to hospital for a thorough check-up.
“Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club would like to thank Sky, the ECB, the Birmingham Bears staff and the Edgbaston crowd for the sympathy and understanding they showed in an extremely difficult situation.
“The heartfelt round of applause given to the team as they left the field before returning was very much appreciated by the players and management.”
After a half-hour delay, play resumed at 9.15pm, with Birmingham on 30 for 0, chasing 159 for victory. They eventually won by six wickets off the final ball of the game.
“It rattled most of us out there on the field,” said Nottinghamshire’s captain, Dan Christian. “But we spoke to the doctor in the rooms and he assured us that Luke was in pretty good nick, he just had a bit of a flesh wound. Everything else seemed to be okay, so once we knew that we got back on it.”
The win isn’t really important,” added Birmingham’s captain, Ian Bell. “We just hope Fletcher is alright, it’s just a game at the end of the day and we don’t want to see things like that.”
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo