A Bangladeshi teenager died in hospital in Dhaka after he was hit by a ball while umpiring a cricket match, police said yesterday.
Rafiqul Islam, 17, was declared dead at Dhaka Medical College Hospital late on Friday after the incident at Balur Math Cricket Ground in Dhaka.
“A group of youths were playing cricket in the field and the boy was the umpire. He collapsed on the field after a ball hit him in the chest,” local police chief Enamul Haque said.
Photo AFP
“He is from a very poor family. His father is a rickshaw-puller and mother works as a housemaid. They buried him last night,” he said.
The incident comes three years after the tragic death of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes in similar circumstances.
Hughes, who played 26 Tests, died from bleeding on the brain in November 2014 after being hit on the base of the skull by a ball during a domestic match in Sydney.
His death stunned the world cricket community, sparking an outpouring of grief and intensifying a focus on player safety.
Meanwhile, Australia captain Steve Smith will return home from the tour of India due to a shoulder injury, Cricket Australia announced just hours before the opener of a three-match Twenty20 series against the hosts yesterday.
Smith hurt his right shoulder diving in the field during the fifth and final one-day international against India at Nagpur on Sunday last week, adding injury to the insult of a 4-1 series loss for the visitors.
The board said an MRI scan had ruled out any serious injury and he would be fit for the start of the domestic season and to lead Australia against archrivals England at home in the Ashes series starting on Nov. 23 in Brisbane.
Nottingham Forest FC are to go into the Europa League play-off round after a 4-0 win over Ferencvaros TC on Thursday, while Celtic FC secured their place in the knockout phase with a victory over FC Utrecht. Aston Villa FC finished second in the league phase after recovering from two goals down to beat FC Red Bull Salzburg 3-2 with their spot in the last 16 already assured. Forest stood an outside chance of climbing into the top eight going into the final round of matches, but needed to beat Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros and rely on other results going their way. Sean Dyche’s
HEATED RIVALRY: The pair had met 14 times previously, with Sabalenka winning eight of the encounters and entering the final as the favorite to take the title Elena Rybakina took revenge over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to win a nail-biting Australian Open final yesterday and clinch her second Grand Slam title. The big-serving Kazakh fifth seed held her nerve to pull through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne in 2 hours, 18 minutes. It was payback after the Belarusian Sabalenka won the 2023 final between two of the hardest hitters in women’s tennis. The ice-cool Rybakina, 26, who was born in Moscow, adds her Melbourne triumph to her Wimbledon win in 2022. It was more disappointment in a major final for Sabalenka, who won the US Open
Denver superstar Nikola Jokic returned from a 16-game injury absence to post a 31-point, 12-rebound double-double on Friday and propel the Nuggets to a 122-109 NBA victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic had not played since suffering a bone bruise in the left knee he hyperextended in a game against Miami on Dec. 29 last year. The Serbian big man did not miss a beat. He led all scorers, connecting on eight of 11 shots from the field, and also handed out five assists with three steals while playing just 24 minutes, 32 seconds as the
BATTERED AND BRUISED: Alcaraz suffered a cramp in the third set, but was allowed treatment despite Zverev’s protests, and continued on to win in five-and-a-half hours An ailing Carlos Alcaraz battled past Alexander Zverev yesterday in five epic sets to reach his first Australian Open final and move within a match of becoming the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam. The world No. 1 outlasted the German third seed 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (3/7), 6-7 (4/7), 7-5 over a titanic 5 hours, 27 minutes in hot conditions to head to tomorrow’s title match. He only narrowly avoided crashing out after a huge fright at 4-4 in the third set when he pulled up in pain with what appeared to be cramp. He was allowed to have treatment