Phillip Hughes: Cricket Australia confirms independent review

Cricket Australia has confirmed it will commission an independent review into the death of batsman Phillip Hughes.

Test player Hughes died in November aged 25, two days after being struck on the top of the neck by a delivery during a domestic match in Sydney.

A Cricket Australia statement read: "We have a responsibility and obligation to look into the events of that day."

The statement added the review was not about blame but "preventing an accident of this nature happening again".

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland added: "When this tragedy happened, I said that it was a freak accident, but it was one freak accident too many.
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"Never again do we want to see something like that happen on a cricket field."

The review will be held with the support of Hughes's family and is expected to publish its findings later this year. It will examine:

• the causes and circumstances which led to Hughes's death

• what practices can be put in place to prevent a similar accident from occurring

• the use of personal protective equipment in order to protect the head and heart

• the medical screening of contracted players - especially those players with particular vulnerabilities

• the medical support and coverage afforded to players and on-field support staff, including match officals, at matches and training


 Hughes, who also played for Hampshire, Middlesex and Worcestershire, was hit by a delivery from bowler Sean Abbott.

His death stunned Australia and sparked thousands of tributes from around the world.

Around 5,000 people attended the funeral in Hughes's home town of Macksville, New South Wales, with the service broadcast live to millions of people on Australian television.

After the incident, a British-based company designed a new helmet with a 'stemguard' - a device made of foam and a rubber-like compound that clips onto the back of a helmet, aimed at preventing another tragic death.

collected from:http://www.bbc.com

Pakistan spinner Raza Hassan faces two-year drugs ban

Raza has represented Pakistan at ODI and T20 level // Getty Images

Left-armer to be to front committee after testing positive for cocaine

Pakistan spinner Raza Hassan has tested positive for cocaine and faces a two-year ban from all forms of cricket.The left-armer failed a dope test at a World Anti-Doping Agency accredited laboratory in India after a sample was taken during the Pentangular Cup in Karachi.

Hassan, who has represented his country at one-day international and T20 level, tested positive for the banned recreational drug while playing for Punjab Badshahs.

"The results of the second sample are still awaited but on the basis of the first sample results, the board has already established a two-member committee to chargesheet the spinner and seek an explanation from him," a source close to the Pakistan Cricket Board told the Press Trust of India.

The two-member committee includes former Pakistan Test wicketkeeper Colonel Naushad Ali and a qualified sports medicine doctor.

"The PCB is taking the matter very seriously because this is the first time any player has tested positive for the use of cocaine," the source said.

"If Hassan can't clear himself before the inquiry committee, he faces a two-year ban from all cricket.”

Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar tested positive for steroids in 2006, the same year fellow paceman Mohammad Asif was also banned for steroid use, but the PCB overturned both bans.

Ex-Australia Test spinner Jason Krejza tested positive to cocaine in 2006, but the off-spinner claimed his drink was spiked and further testing revealed no trace of the drug.

Shane Warne was infamously banned for 12 months on the eve of the 2003 Cricket World Cup after testing positive for a banned diuretic which helps increase the removal of water from the body and also acts as a masking agent.

Warne returned a year later and played on until the 5-0 Ashes whitewash in the summer of 2006-07 before retiring as the game’s leading Test wicket-taker.


collected from:http://www.cricket.com.au//http://www.cricbuzz.com