List of fatalities while playing cricket

The following is a list of cricket players who died while playing a game, died directly from injuries sustained while playing, or died after being taken ill on the ground.

Player Cause Date Place
Jasper Vinall Struck on the head by a bat as a result of a double-hit attempt.[1] 28 August 1624 Horsted Keynes, Sussex
Henry Brand Struck on the head by a bat. Notable for being a similar double-hit to Vinall, which may have resulted in the 1744 codification of the rule.[2] 1647 Selsey, West Sussex.
Frederick, Prince of Wales Keen on cricket and real tennis, it's been speculated that he died from either a pulmonary embolism or a burst abscess caused by being hit with a ball[3] 20 March 1751 London
James Balchen "Killed by a cricket ball"[4] buried 14 June 1764 Godalming, Surrey
George Summers Struck on the head by a ball bowled by John Platts.[5] 29 June 1870 Nottingham
John Hamilton Plumptre Lighton Son of Rev. Sir Christopher Lighton, Baronet; struck by a return drive by a batsman[6][7] 12 July 1872 Repton, Derbyshire
William Jupp Died after suffering a brain injury during a cricket match.[8] 3 August 1878 Chertsey, Surrey
Claude Wilson Killed by sunstroke[9] 29 June 1881 Betchworth, Surrey
Lord Fitzroy Somerset Youngest son of the Duke of Beaufort; collapsed and died of suspected heart failure[10] 23 July 1881 near Tetbury, Gloucestershire
Frederick Randon Sr. Struck on the head by a ball at Lord's in 1881, from which he never fully recovered, dying in February 1883[11] 17 February 1883 Hathern, Leicestershire
Frederick Jackman Collapsed while batting[12] 5 September 1891 Horndean, England
Charles Lane Struck over the heart by a ball[13] 20 May 1895 Cosme, Paraguay
Arthur Earlam Struck by a return drive by the batsman[14] July 1921 Runcorn, Cheshire
Walter Duff Died of complications from a broken leg during a cricket match.[15] 11 November 1921 Sydney, Australia
Edward Cox Heart failure while playing cricket[16] 23 July 1925 Holyport, Berkshire, England
William John Griffiths Struck by a ball in the head when attempting to take a catch during practice resulting in a skull fracture.[17] 16 October 1928 Melbourne, Australia
Max Smith Struck by a ball (bowled by his younger brother Clive Smith) which deflected into his head.[18] 27 October 1941 Werribee, Australia
Andy Ducat Heart failure[19] 23 July 1942 London
Tom Killick Heart problem[20] 18 May 1953 Northampton
Abdul Aziz Struck over the heart by a ball[21] 17 January 1959 Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Martin Bedkober Died when hit over the heart by a cricket ball;[22] flatmate of Jeff Thomson 13 December 1975 Brisbane, Queensland
Michael Ainsworth "Suddenly"[23] 28 August 1978 Hillingdon, London
Wilf Slack Collapsed while batting[24] 15 January 1989 Banjul, the Gambia
Ian Folley Heart attack while being treated in hospital for eye injury sustained on the field[25] 30 August 1993 Whitehaven, Cumbria
Raman Lamba Struck on the head by a ball while fielding[26] 23 February 1998 Dhaka, Bangladesh
Mark Lavine Heart attack[27] 12 May 2001 Coventry, England
Wasim Raja Suffered a heart attack on the pitch[24][28] 23 August 2006 Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Darryn Randall Struck on the head by a ball[24] 27 October 2013 Alice, Eastern Cape
Phillip Hughes Struck on the neck by a ball during a Sheffield shield match bowled by Sean Abbott[29] 27 November 2014 Sydney, New South Wales
Raymond van Schoor Stroke[30] 20 November 2015 Windhoek, Namibia
Rajesh Ghodge Collapsed while playing in a local cricket tournament[31] Margao, Goa, India
Shyamji Kanojia Heart attack while fielding during a in a senior veterans cricket match.[32] 3 January 2021 Virar, Mumbai
Ben Austin Struck on the neck by a ball during practice[33] 28 October 2025 Melbourne, Australia

References

  1. ^ McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century. Sussex Record Society. pp.xxxiii–xxxiv.
  2. ^ McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century. Sussex Record Society. pp.xxxiii–xxxiv. (Available online at the University of Michigan library. Retrieved 2022-04-05.)
  3. ^ Cavendish, Richard. "Death of Frederick, Prince of Wales". History Today.
  4. ^ www.ancestry.co.uk https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/4790/images/40761_312029-00208?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=e61b351232038c122b686de7e4c04bf2&usePUB=true&_phsrc=XKp511&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.192049642.1517238373.1637392024-166252373.1632151042&pId=1029062. Retrieved 21 November 2021. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ^ "NCCC News: Nottinghamshire Cricketers Part 7". www.trentbridge.co.uk.
  6. ^ "Sad Death of a Baronet's Son". York Herald. York, Yorkshire. 13 July 1871. p. 11. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  7. ^ "Cricketer". 1921. 13.
  8. ^ "Fatal Accident in the Cricket Field". Surrey Times and County Express. 10 August 1878. p. 6. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Deaths". The Times. No. 30237. London. 4 July 1881. p. 1.
  10. ^ "Sudden Death of Lord Fitzroy Somerset". Bath Chronicle. 28 July 1881. p. 6. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  11. ^ "Famous cricketers: the Randons". www.hathernhistory.co.uk.
  12. ^ "Death in the cricket field". Hampshire Post and Southsea Observer. 11 September 1891. p. 6. Retrieved 6 July 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ^ Evita Burned Down Our Pavilion: A Cricket Odyssey through Latin America
  14. ^ "Cricketer". 1. 13. 1921.
  15. ^ "A Cricketer's Last Game". Evening News. 21 November 1921. p. 3. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Colonel Edward Henry Cox". Western Daily Press. Bristol. 25 July 1925. p. 7. Retrieved 12 November 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. ^ The Argus, "Cricketer And Footballer – Death of W. Griffiths", 18 October 1928. p. 14
  18. ^ "Cricket Field Fatality". Werribee Shire Banner. Vic. 30 October 1941. p. 3. Retrieved 3 September 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. ^ Williamson, Martin (4 December 2004). "Not out ... dead". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  20. ^ "Wisden Obituaries in 1953". ESPN Cricinfo. 4 December 2005. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  21. ^ Haigh, Gideon (2006). Peter The Lord's Cat and Other Unexpected Obituaries from Wisden. London, Eng: John Wisden & Co. p. 16. ISBN 1-84513-163-0.
  22. ^ "Queensland Cricket Archive". cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  23. ^ "Wisden Obituaries in 1978". ESPN Cricinfo. 5 December 2005. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  24. ^ a b c "FACTBOX-Cricket-Deaths caused from on-field incidents". Reuters. 27 November 2014. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016.
  25. ^ Powell, Rose (28 November 2014). "Ten fatal cricket injuries before Phillip Hughes died". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  26. ^ "The tragic death of Raman Lamba". Martin Williamson. Cricinfo Magazine, 14 August 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  27. ^ Robinson, Peter (13 May 2001). "North West all-rounder Lavine dies of a heart attack". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  28. ^ "Wasim Raja dies playing cricket". ESPN Cricinfo. 23 August 2006.
  29. ^ Staff reporters (27 November 2014). "Phillip Hughes dead: Australian cricketer dies after bouncer at SCG". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  30. ^ "Namibian cricketer Raymond van Schoor dies, aged 25, five days after on-field collapse due to stroke". abc.net.au. 21 November 2015.
  31. ^ "Former Goa Ranji cricketer Rajesh Ghodge, collapses on field, dies in hospital". India Today. 13 January 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  32. ^ Gaurav Gupta (3 January 2021). "Former Railways cricketer Kanojia dies on ground in Vasai | Cricket News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  33. ^ Convery, S. (2025), "Teenager dies after being hit in neck with cricket ball in Melbourne's east", The Guardian, retrieved 30 October 2025
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