Phillip Hughes' 'Freak' Death Points Towards Cricket's 'Inglorious' Past

Phillip Hughes endured a 'freak' injury in a Sheffield Shield game on Tuesday, when he was knocked out by a bouncer from Sean Abbott at the Sydney Cricket Ground. After being in coma for three days, Hughes lost his battle with life on Thursday. He was 25.

The sight of Hughes trying to maintain his composure after being hit before collapsing head first to the ground was a stark reminder of the existence of a 'dangerous' side to cricket.

Here's a list of cricket's inglorious past as far as life-threatening injuries are concerned:

- Way back in 1932-33, Australian wicketkeeper Bert Oldfield suffered a skull fracture after he was struck by a bouncer from ruthless England's pacer Harold Larwood. This occured during the infamous Bodyline series, when England skipper Douglas Jardine adopted a 'method' to attack the opposition batsmen on their bodies

- In the mid-1960s, erstwhile Indian captain Nari Contractor suffered a severe injury to his head. Contractor fell unconscious after being hit in the head by a ball from West Indies pacer Charlie Griffith. Contractor's life was hanging by the thread as he remained unconscious for six days and needed blood transfusion to survive. Though he managed to evade death, that near-fatal injury led to demise of his international career.

- In 1975, New Zealand's Ewen Chatfield was hit on his forehead by a bouncer from England's Peter Lever. Such was the impact that Chatfield swallowed his tongue and stopped breathing in the middle of the pitch. With his life on tenterhooks, opposition physio Bernard Thomas stepped in and administered a cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

- Former England fast bowler Bob Willis hurled a bouncer at Australia's Rick McCosker jaw in the 1977 Centenary Test. The most poignant moment of that game remained the sight of a heavily-bandaged McCosker coming back to bat after spending a day-and-a-half in the hospital nursing his fractured jaw.

- In 1986, England's Mike Gatting suffered a broken nose, courtesy a rising bouncer from West Indian pacer Malcolm Marshall.

- India's 38-year-old Raman Lamba died while playing for Abahani Krira Chakra in Bangladesh's league cricket. Fielding at the close-in catching position of forward short leg, Lamba was hit on his temple by a shot from Bangladesh batsman Mehrab Hossain. Lamba was in coma for three days and died due to internal  hemorrhage.

- In 1959, Pakistan's 19-year-old batsman Abdul Aziz was struck on the chest by a ball. He collapsed and did not regain consciousness. He died on his way to the hospital.