‘Pure accident’: Cricketer Ben Austin’s parents speak publicly about son’s tragic death

The parents of a teenage cricketer who died after being struck by a ball during a training exercise have spoken publicly, revealing their extraordinary support for the teammate who threw the fatal ball.

Ben Austin, 17, was tragically killed when a cricket ball hit his neck during batting practice at Wally Tew Reserve at Ferntree Gully, in Victoria, on October 28 last year.

Ben’s parents, Jace and Tracey Austin, spoke to the ABC’s 7.30 Report about their son’s death on Tuesday night.

The program reported a cricket thrower was used to throw the ball to Ben, who was wearing a helmet, but not a neck guard when he was struck.

The teen was rushed to hospital and put on life support, but he could not be saved and died two days later.

Medical records seen by the program revealed the teenager died from intracranial haemorrhage caused by a traumatic injury to the neck,.

Doctors told Ben’s parents a neck guard may not have prevented his death.

Neck guards are not compulsory at junior levels of cricket, but must be worn by elite players facing pace bowling.

Mr Austin said his son’s death was a pure accident and the sport was not to blame.

He initially thought he could never watch cricket again, but soon changed his mind.

“Whether it was through Benny or through just a feeling I got, I said, ‘no, I have to … that’s not fair,’” he told the ABC’s 7.30 Report.

“It had nothing to do with the game. Benny loved it that much.”

Ben’s mother said what happened to her son was a one in a million event and described him as a sports-mad teenager.

He played cricket for several teams, Aussie rules football and planned to become a PE teacher when he finished school.

“He was amazing. He was my boy, he was kind, he was caring, he had time for everyone,” Ms Austin told the 7.30 Report.

“If you were three or if you were 80, he’d stop and he’d listen and he was just so loved.”

Ben’s parents have stood by their son’s teammate who threw the fatal ball and regularly check in with him to see how he’s going.

“We got him to go to the hospital … he didn’t want to come,” Mr Austin said.

“I said, ‘no, mate, you’ve got to come’. And we just hugged him and said, it wasn’t your fault.

“We’ve given him Benny’s bat to use. We’ve given him Benny’s shirt and I’ve even said he’s going to be my cricket son now.

“I just know Benny. If he could talk to me and he could get the phone and ring me he’d make clear that it was definitely not anyone’s fault. It was just a freak accident.”

Ferntree Cricket Club president Lee Thompson told the ABC it was their view Ben’s death was a terrible accident.

“It’s ultimately for the authorities and the people like that to look at what happened and see if anything good can come out of it from a safety perspective,” he said.

“For us, our most important thing as a club is it’s getting around each and every one of us and making sure everyone’s OK.

“Every day we come to this beautiful cricket reserve we think of Ben and every day we play a game of cricket we think of Ben.

“The whole club does that. I can’t see that ever changing to be honest.”