17-year-old Australian cricketer dies after ball strikes his neck during training

Young Australian cricketer Ben Austin, 17, died after being hit by a ball while batting in the nets.

According to Cricket Victoria, the ball struck high in the neck during the training session at Ferntree Gully Cricket Club. "He was rushed to the hospital and put on life support, but died on Wednesday," his club said.

According to Nick Cummins, head of cricket at the club, the accident was similar to that ten years ago, which led to the death of Phil Hughes. Cummins said Austin had been wearing a helmet but not a neck protector.

Hughes, who was a former Australian Test opener, died in 2014 at the age of 25 two days after being hit in the neck by a short ball during a domestic match in Sydney.

Austin was facing balls delivered by a hand-held throwing device locally called a wanger, which is used to simulate bowling in training sessions.

Austin's family issued a statement saying they were "utterly devastated". "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," the statement said.

"We would also like to support his teammate who was bowling in the nets – this accident has impacted two young men and our thoughts are with he and his family as well."