The Victorian cricket community is mourning 17-year-old Ben Austin, who died on Thursday morning after being struck on the neck during nets on Tuesday at Ferntree Gully in Melbourne’s outer east.
According to teammates, Austin was taking throw-downs from a side-arm – the plastic “wanger” many clubs now use to mimic fast bowling – when the ball slipped beneath his helmet and hit an unprotected area. He was wearing a standard club helmet, but not a stem guard, the extra flap that protects the neck. Paramedics rushed him to Monash Children’s Hospital, where he was placed on life support. Two days later the life support was switched off.
His father, Jace Austin, released a brief statement. “We are utterly devastated by the passing of our beautiful Ben, who died earlier on Thursday morning.
“For Tracey and I, Ben was an adored son, deeply loved brother to Cooper and Zach and a shining light in the lives of our family and friends.
“This tragedy has taken Ben from us, but we find some comfort that he was doing something he did for so many summers – going down to the nets with mates to play cricket. He loved cricket and it was one of the joys of his life.
“We would also like to support his team-mate who was bowling in the nets – this accident has impacted two young men and our thoughts are with he and his family as well.”
Cricket Australia (CA) and Cricket Victoria have sent counsellors to the club and to Austin’s school. CA chair Mike Baird told reporters, “The tragic circumstances of Ben and Ferntree Gully are… going to be felt across the country. Cricket is a sport that brings people together, communities together. It’s also one that feels very deeply an incident such as we’ve seen. [It’s] hard to put words on it. What we want to say is that we are doing everything we can to support the family, the club, and all those impacted by this tragic news.”
Nick Cummins, Cricket Victoria chief executive, echoed that sentiment. “We’re absolutely devastated on behalf of the family, on behalf of the Ferntree Gully Cricket Club, and more broadly, the Victorian cricket community.
“We are doing everything we can to support not just the family of young Ben, but also those at the club, and Ben played for a number of clubs, to ensure that they have the counselling and the support, not just today, but well into the future, as this is something that will stay with our community for some time.”
Asked whether the accident might prompt rule changes – for instance, making stem guards compulsory at all levels – Cummins urged patience. “I think the temptation in moments like this is to move to solution mode. At the moment, our focus is around providing support and counselling for those people who experienced the trauma. There will be an appropriate time to review that and answer those questions.”
Tributes have piled up outside the clubrooms: flowers, hand-written notes, lollies, a half-full drink bottle, and a battered junior-size bat scrawled with messages such as “rest easy Benny” and “forev”. Small gestures, friends say, that feel enormous today.
For many, the accident recalls the death of Phil Hughes in 2014, which accelerated the adoption of neck protection in the professional game. Whether Austin’s passing leads to another safety tweak remains to be seen, yet the immediate focus is on helping a family, a club and a group of teenagers process a loss that feels at once personal and communal.
