A young net bowler had to receive medical treatment after being struck in the head by David Warner at Australia's net session at The Oval. Photo / Twitter
A young net bowler had to receive medical treatment after being struck in the head by David Warner at Australia's net session at The Oval. Photo / Twitter
The Australian team's training session in London came to a standstill on Saturday when a net bowler was involved in a frightening incident, but he has since been cleared of serious injury.
David Warner was batting in the nets when he hit a straight drive back at the bowler, hitting him in the head.
The bowler, one of about half a dozen joining the training session at The Oval, went down and remained on the ground as he was attended to by Australia's medical staff.
The players, coaches and support staff all stood around waiting to see if he would be all right as a stretcher was brought out on a medicab.
Concern over a local net bowler at Australia training ... copped a ball to the head off the bat of David Warner. Looks concussed. Stretcher coming out at The Oval. #CWC19pic.twitter.com/apHRWIYYz1
Coach Justin Langer and assistant coach Ricky Ponting stayed in proximity to the man while he was being treated.
After approximately 10-15 minutes of being treated on the ground in one of the three nets in use by the Aussies, the man was placed on a stretcher and taken away on the medicab.
Warner came out of the net and at least one member of the Aussie camp put their arm around him as he watched the drama unfold.
About five minutes after the man was taken away, Warner went into the middle of the ground and shadow batted. He then sat down on a kit bag adjacent to the nets, still with his pads on, watching his teammates train.
David Warner in action during the Australia practice session at The Oval. Photo / Getty
About 25 minutes after the frightening blow to the bowler's head, the opening batsman put his gloves and helmet back on and resumed batting in the nets alongside Glenn Maxwell.
An ICC official told media the net bowler was taken to hospital as a precaution and was conscious and smiling when he left the ground. Per cricket.com.au, Cricket Australia confirmed later in the day a CT scan had cleared him of serious injury, but he was still being monitored for delayed signs of concussion.
Aaron Finch said Warner was "pretty shaken up" after the incident.
"Dave was pretty shaken up, no doubt. It was a decent hit to the head so hopefully everything keeps going well for the youngster and he's back up and running shortly," he said.
"It was tough to watch."
A young net bowler had to receive medical treatment after being struck in the head by David Warner at Australia's net session at The Oval. Photo / Twitter
The Aussie skipper said he hadn't thought much about what could be done to improve safety in the nets.
"It's quite rare that somebody gets hit and it's obviously very unfortunate," Finch said.
"The medical staff that were on hand, our own medical staff … and the medical staff at the ground did a great job in being there very quickly to assess and make sure all the right processes and protocols were put in place.
"It is a difficult one because you get some guys that are coming in and probably aren't as well equipped with their game to be able to deal with that.
"That's a tough one, I haven't thought about it a hell of a lot to be honest. It's a tough one to answer."
When asked if helmets for bowlers could be a solution, Finch said it was tough to answer because that was down to personal preference.
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