Inquest opens into death of Phil Hughes

Hughes died in 2014, two days after being struck in the neck by a short-pitched delivery during a Sheffield Shield match

SYDNEY: Cricket Australia has expressed hopes that an inquest into the death of test batsman Phil Hughes, which was opened on Monday by the New South Wales coroner, will have a positive outcome.

Hughes died on Nov. 27, 2014, two days after being struck in the neck by a short-pitched delivery during a Sheffield Shield match at Sydney between his South Australia state and New South Wales.

State coroner Michael Barnes opened the five-day inquest by saying that, to his family, Hughes was "much more than a fabulous cricketer. Phillip Hughes was before anything else, a son and a brother."

Barnes will examine the circumstances surrounding Hughes' death, including whether the nature of play exacerbated the risk of injury, whether the response to his injury was appropriate and whether a different type of batting helment would have reduced the likelihood of death.

Hughes' former manager James Henderson said the week of the inquest would be "very, very difficult" for the Hughes family."

"They haven't been looking forward to this week as you would imagine, but they are hoping that perhaps there will be a positive outcome out of Phil's death as we go through this next five days inside the coroners court," he said.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland echoed that view, saying "we do hope something good comes from this process."

"It's an emotionally challenging time for those involved and I guess our role right now is to support them so that they can assist the coroner as he works through the process and presents findings later on."

Sutherland said his thoughts were with the Hughes family and also with his cricketing friends and teammates, some of whom are expected to give evidence.

"Many have had to deal with the trauma of not only losing a mate but also (being) out on the ground at the time of the accident," Sutherland said. "We never want to see a tragedy like this happen on the cricket field and to that end we have the utmost respect for the coronial inquest and the process we all need to go through this week."