Before a ball was bowled and before the national anthems rang out at the DY Patil Stadium, the ICC Women’s World Cup semi-final saw a moment of silence. Players from both India and Australia stood in silence, heads bowed, paying tribute to a young cricketer whose passing has shaken the sport. Every player wore a black armband, marking respect for 17-year-old Ben Austin, who tragically lost his life after he was hit on the head while batting in the nets.
Tribute to Ben Austin at ICC Women’s World Cup
Austin, a promising teenager from Ferntree Gully, was struck on the neck by a ball while training at the Wally Tew Reserve. He was wearing a helmet but not a stem guard, the small but crucial protective flap that covers the back of the neck. He collapsed immediately, and though paramedics rushed him to Monash Children’s Hospital, his injuries proved fatal.
The tragedy is eerily similar to the one that claimed Phil Hughes in 2014, a moment that changed the way cricket viewed player safety. “The ball hit him in the neck in a similar accident that Phil Hughes suffered ten years ago,” confirmed Cricket Victoria’s chief executive Nick Cummins.
A heavy start to a massive semi-final
It was against this emotional backdrop that India and Australia took the field for the ICC Women’s World Cup semi-final in Navi Mumbai. The DY Patil stadium is sold out as well, and the match is quite important as far as the Women in Blue are concerned. They have had a stumbling tournament but a win here would be groundbreaking.
Alyssa Healy won the toss and chose to bat first, backing her team’s unbeaten run that now stretches to fifteen World Cup matches. But the last time Australia lost a World Cup knockout game, it was against India only – at the ODI World Cup 2018.
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