The counsel assisting the Hughes family has called witnesses unreliable in a startling conclusion to the inquest into the death of cricketer Phillip Hughes.
Greg Melick SC drew attention to the “inconsistency” of the testimony offered by cricketers present at the match, stating that “sledging has been part of cricket since time immemorial, the concern was why wasn’t it remembered by the players?”
Melick described the tactics of rival players against Hughes as “going too far” but conceded that the bowling plan adopted during the Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and South Australia was “legitimate and appropriate”.
The accusations were strongly refuted by counsel assisting Cricket Australia Bruce Hodgkinson SC, who asked the state coroner, Michael Barnes, not to be swayed by “unsworn and unsubstantiated evidence” and reminded him that “no allegation [of sledging] was made by a player or other official involved in the match”.
It is understood that Hodgkinson was referring to testimony offered by former cricketer Matthew Day, a close friend of Hughes, whose statement starkly contradicts comments made by cricketers and umpires present on the day.
The parents of Phillip Hughes, Greg and Virginia, then left the courtroom during Hodgkinson’s submission.
After counsel assisting the coroner Kristina Stern SC contested it, Melick retracted an initial accusation of fabrication but maintained that the evidence of players recorded nearly two years after the event remained unreliable.
In her closing submission Stern said there remained a need for greater clarity around emergency roles at Australian cricket grounds, as part of a raft of recommendations put forward to the coroner.
These included a request for continuing testing and further research into helmet technology; the consolidation of emergency response procedural documents to be shared by Cricket Australia and the Sydney Cricket & Sporting Grounds Trust, and the better training of staff, especially in the provision of relevant information to emergency services.
The submissions drew to a close the week-long inquest into the death of Phillip Hughes. The coroner is expected to hand down his findings later this month.
