Tomorrow signals the start of the Ashes series. England take on Australia at Cardiff in the first test in what promises to be an excellent and exciting sporting event played out over the next month or so. Unfortunately one sour note has been the death of cricketing umpire Alcwyn Jenkins this week. Mr Jenkins was hit on the head by a cricket ball and collapsed while umpiring a league match between Swansea and Llangennech in Swansea.
The ball was thrown by a fielder during the game and Mr Jenkins was airlifted to a local hospital but failed to recover from the injury. Mr Neil Hobbs, honorary chairman of the South Wales Cricket Board paid tribute to Mr Jenkins, 72, and detailed the circumstances behind the incident,
“I’m led to believe it was one of the most freak accidents you could ever imagine on the cricket field” he said, “The fielder collected the ball in the outfield and threw it in at the stumps and it hit Alcwyn on the head.”
Participation in sport is something which can often lead to injuries, an example being the case of Bradford City footballer Gordon Watson, who suffered a double leg fracture after a reckless challenge from another player and was able to claim compensation for the 18 months that he was out of the game due to his injuries. However, it is rare that non-participants are the ones who suffer injury. However, it has always struck me as slightly odd that umpires don’t wear protection when batsmen and some fielders wear padding and helmets and it might be something that should be looked at in the future to prevent such a tragedy happening again.