An unprecedented and shocking moment stunned country cricket on Sunday as Sussex and Surrey’s Natwest T20 Blast match had to be abandoned after Rory Burns and Moises Henriques collided when attempting to take a catch.
After an innocuous start, Sussex’s Steffan Piolet top-edged a Tom Curran delivery high into the offside and Burns, coming in from deep cover and Henriques, running back from point, converged, at pace, eyes on the ball. Utterly unaware of each other’s presence, they collided with a sickening blow. Henriques’ teeth met Burns’s cheek, drawing blood, and both hit the ground hard.
The severity of the situation was immediately evident. Surrey players crowded around the stricken pair, calling for help, which came immediately in the form of physiotherapists, medical staff and an off-duty doctor from the crowd. A first ambulance was joined by a further two on the field of play as the incident became more serious. Both players, who were unconscious and concussed, were put in neck braces and placed on spinal boards then given oxygen and intravenous painkillers.
Other players going off, Alec Stewart at scene with huge numbers of medics. Lengthy delay coming #countycricketlive pic.twitter.com/SskjPBLW1v
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) June 14, 2015
The Sussex physio John Marrale said: “Both were unconscious after the collision. Henriques’s teeth caught Burns’s cheek and Burns had lacerations on the top of his head and below his eye. They were given oxygen and pain relief before they went to hospital. Fortunately they were sitting up when they left the ground but it was a sickening incident.”
As concern among the 8,500-strong crowd grew, Henriques, 28, was hoisted into an ambulance and driven away, offering a wave as he did so. Ten minutes later, Burns, 24, whose situation had seemed far more serious as he lay motionless for more than 10 minutes, was also driven away, with his father at his side. The player gave a double thumbs-up to the crowd.
The game was abandoned after 18 overs without complaint. With Henriques’s and Burns’s conditions then unclear, the umpires – after consultation with Lord’s – and the captains had little choice on the matter. “It was an easy decision to make,” said the Sussex captain, Luke Wright.
Two ambulances now. Both players in a very, very bad way #countycricketlive pic.twitter.com/j5T14W7MbH
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) June 14, 2015
The umpire Jeremy Lloyds concurred and said he had never seen an incident so severe in 40 years as a player and official. “There was no other action possible,” he said. “Both of us [the umpires] are watching the ball, looking for the catch. You think: ‘Please somebody call mine or yours.’ You knew there was something horribly wrong as Rory was going flat out. It was like slow motion, you feel helpless, there’s nothing you can do. The response was absolutely brilliant, the paramedics were out very quickly. One ambulance, then two then three, which was when it became clear how serious this was. One can only wish them a speedy recovery.”
The players were taken to hospital in Chichester, where Henriques’s jaw was x-rayed and Burns was seen by a maxillofacial surgeon. Surrey confirmed that Burns, whose condition had appeared more serious, was later chatting to hospital staff and that the pair were in good spirits by the evening.
“The priority was the players,” said the Sussex chief executive, Zac Toumazi. “Two people were injured but the impact went right across both teams. Everyone responded as quickly as possible. It was important that the measures that we have in place that were tested worked. Our physios were out like a shot, ambulance was there and the response was brilliant.”
