In a series of
posts, I have been communicating my thoughts on Cricket injuries, the
unfortunate death of Phil Hughes, the eye injuries ending the career of players
and the strange incident of Alan Read who lost sight in left eye when he was 36
and regaining it after 48 years now !..... You may
not know or have read of Omar Phillips, a left-handed opening who was among seven Test debutants in the St
Vincent Test against Bangladesh in 2009 when the seniors went on strike over
contracts. He made an impression in his first match for West Indies, falling
six short of a debut century in St Vincent.
The untimely death of Phil Hughes prompted a debate about
the use of the bouncer, but at Adelaide in the 1st Test Indian pacer
Varun Aaron bowled the first in the fourth over, a sizzling 145 kph delivery
that drew applause from the crowd and that Warner did well to avoid. Away, the
left handed Omar Phillips has been in
news for wrong reasons.
The Barbados Pride was beset with an injury
on the first day of Round 4 against Windwards Islands Volcanoes at the Arnos
Vale ground in St. Vincent on 5th Dec 14. The injury occurred when Barbadian batsman
Omar Phillips was accidentally struck unconscious by a shotl from fellow
batsman Shai Hope and had to be taken to hospital where he received a CAT scan.
He has since been
cleared of serious injury. Reports
suggest that a CT scan was done on Phillips after he had lost consciousness as
a result of being hit on the back of his head, despite wearing a helmet. The
scan, according to a statement on the WICB website, "came up negative for
any damage". Phillips, 28, an opening batsman who had played two Tests for
West Indies in 2009 against Bangladesh, was batting on 38 when a shot from
Barbados' No. 3 Shai Hope struck him. Phillips
became unconscious on the field before a doctor rushed to the scene. He was
then taken to hospital in an ambulance, accompanied by the team physio. A statement on West cricket's
official website read: "The Barbados Pride are breathing a collective sigh
of relief today." The Phillips incident has come just over a week after
Australian batsman Phil Hughes died after he was felled by a bouncer during a
Sheffield Shield match between South Australia and New South Wales at the
Sydney Cricket Ground.
"Thank
God" was the WhatsApp message posted by Omar Phillips, the Barbados and
West Indies opener, once he had regained consciousness at the Milton Kato
Memorial Hospital, in Kingstown in St Vincent. "It has been a difficult
situation for me in terms of having a seen a cricketer die of a similar
injury." Phillips is quoted as saying.
Phillips had no immediate recollection of the sequence of events once he
lost consciousness. Till late on Friday, Phillips was not even aware how long
he was unconscious. Six minutes it was, he was told later. "I don't really
remember what happened after I got struck. All I remember was waking up at the
hospital. At that time I kept thinking about the whole Phil Hughes stuff. And I
was kind of scared because you never know with a head injury how serious it
could be." The family too was
naturally worried as many people kept calling the house.
This is not the first time Phillips was hit on the head.
Five years ago, in a first division match in the domestic league in Barbados,
he got a "nasty blow" on the front of the helmet while fielding at
short leg after the batsman pulled a short delivery straight into him. But
Phillips stood up immediately and never was bothered. Incidentally, in previous
round of the Professional League against Guyana, Phillips was once again at
shortleg and had his right hand injured trying to fend off a straight hit into
his body. Last Friday, as Hope's bullet-like stroke came his way, Phillips
raised his right hand as the first line of defence. But, a fraction later, he
withdrew the hand.
This time the
lofted powerful shot was different striking him at the bottom right of the rear
of the helmet. The scans came out clear
and Phillips was "a lot more relieved" even if he was far away from "fully
back being my normal self". As he woke up in the hospital Phillips still
had blurred vision and saw two doctors over him. He admitted he was rattled.
"I didn't understand really what was going on at the moment." The cricketer is thankful to Barbados
physiotherapist Jacqui King, who was constantly talking to him and trying to
help him relax. Once the doctors, having
observed him overnight, allowed him to leave Phillips went straight first to
the ground to let his team-mates knows he was fine before boarding a flight back
home from St Vincent.
The striker Hope 21
was certainly ecstatic seeing Phillips back and reportedly kept telling 'sorry'
all the time. I told him he did nothing wrong. It is all part of the game. Barbados
team were happy to see their Ramo (Phillips' nickname) standing back up on his
legs. His concussion still gives him stabbing pains accompanied by dizziness at
times. According to Phillips, doctors have
prescribed a rehabilitation period of at least a couple of weeks. And he is not
rushing back, though he is keen to be back at the batting end soon…
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
9th Dec
2014 [inputs taken from hosts of websites primarily Cricinfo.com]
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