Two of the most tragic events within Australian cricket in just over the past decade have involved catastrophic head injuries: firstly to David Hookes in a hotel altercation, secondly to Phillip Hughes while batting.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Digesting from afar the details of those incidents is challenging. Witnessing either could haunt someone for years afterwards.
Three men witnessed both.
Darren Berry, John Porter and Rob Cassell were all at the Beaconsfield Hotel the night Hookes was felled and never recovered: Berry as the captain of the Victorian team Hookes was coaching, Porter as the physiotherapist of the South Australian team that had played the Bushrangers earlier in the day, Cassell as the emerging 19-year-old Victorian paceman invited out for a drink with his mentor.
All were at the SCG on Tuesday: Berry as the SA coach, Porter still their physiotherapist and the now-retired Cassell the Redbacks' bowling coach.
Even though the trio has been at SA for more than three years, Cassell initially as a player before he succumbed to injury, the impact of witnessing Hookes' death was so overbearing that, at least until early this year, they barely felt comfortable raising even in their exclusive company.
"While I've been with them for two and a half years I reckon we've spoken about it once," Berry said in January.
Simply being the youngest person in attendance would have severely shaken Cassell. That was exacerbated by the fact he was standing next to Hookes when he was punched by the hotel security guard, and was the one who cradled his head after it had struck the gutter - fatally, it turned out. Porter ignored the shock of seeing his friend's badly wounded head to perform CPR on him.
Cassell received extensive counselling after the incident. Part of the recovery process, he explained in mid-2004 to Fairfax Media's Chloe Saltau, was to graphically recount to his family his chilling recollection of what occurred on the night. Until that stage he had been barely able to converse with his parents about it.
Cassell's father, Barry, remembered feeling bemused at the purpose of his son telling them graphic details of the aftermath of the punch, until the counsellor explained the dangers of his son keeping his grief repressed.
"I don't think you ever forget what happened, the memories of what happened," Rob Cassell said. "We'll never forget 'Hookesy', but it certainly gets easier as time goes on."
Berry, a fine wicketkeeper, was 33 and in what became his final year of cricket. Even with significantly more cricketing and life experience than Cassell he struggled to cope. He vividly remembers driving home from the hospital at dawn hearing a radio bulletin that Hookes was fighting for his life knowing his coach, and close friend, was no chance of recovering.
"It was horrific, traumatic. I lost both my parents young so that was a far greater loss, but the trauma of the David Hookes situation was a big scar for a lot of people," the now SA coach said earlier this year, to mark the 10-year anniversary of Hookes' death.
When NSW players frantically called for assistance, after the blow from the ball to the base of Hughes' skull made him topple as a towering lopped tree would, Berry and Porter were promptly by Hughes' side. Cassell was poised to follow them out until, seemingly, he was gestured to keep away from the tragic scene by coach Berry. The decisive actions of NSW doctor John Orchard, who is also CA's chief medical officer, meant Porter did not have to resuscitate a stricken close friend for a second time.
As the Cricket Australia XI trained at Adelaide Oval on Thursday, in preparation for the practice match against India scheduled to begin on Friday, any South Australian players or coaches not in Sydney were holed up somewhere else in the stadium.
Hookes' fate was confirmed within hours of his admission to hospital. Hughes survived longer and was subject of a torrent of goodwill focused first on his survival and then on his recovery. It was to no avail.
Berry, as both the coach and someone who has led a team through tragedy before, when he captained Victoria to a shield final victory three months after Hookes' death, will be leaned on immediately to provide support to the young men who are both Hughes' teammates and friends. Porter and Cassell are explained to be key allies in that.
Nevertheless, that guidance on how to cope during tragedy is expertise the trio would wish they never gained once in their lives, let alone twice.
smh.com.au
