Cricket is failing to do enough to protect players with concussion

03/01/18

Cricketers face “serious risks” because the sport is failing to do enough to protect players from concussion, the former Australian team doctor has warned.

“International cricket has been slow to react to concussion, and there is far more that could be done to reduce risks”, said Peter Brukner, who was Australia’s team doctor from 2012 to 2017 and previously worked for Liverpool FC. “There is currently a worrying divergence in how seriously different countries take concussion, and ultimately this endangers players.”

Brukner highlighted three main areas for the sport to address – concussion substitutes being prohibited in international cricket, the need for a standard head injury assessment and the lack of full-time team doctors among most Test nations.

“Cricket is lagging behind many of the other professional sports on the issue of concussion”, said Tony Irish, the head of the game’s players’ association, echoing Brukner’s fears. Irish, the executive chairman of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations, called on “a more centralised approach” to concussion, and the International Cricket Council to “establish a science-based protocol for the game at international level” which could be mirrored at domestic level.

Click HERE to read the full article, courtesy of the Telegraph.