BBL 2019-20 | Sam Harper leaves field with concussion after Nathan Ellis collision
Melbourne Renegades wicket-keeper Sam Harper, who has been one of the finds of the season, on Tuesday, left the field concussed after an unfortunate, freak collision with bowler Nathan Ellis. Post his concussion, the Renegades replaced Harper in the team with all-rounder Tom Cooper.
Concussions have, unfortunately, become a common sighting in the cricket field these days. Be it batsmen getting hit on the head by a bouncer or inside-edging the ball onto their helmet or just colliding with a teammate whilst fielding of running, we’ve seen players get concussed in almost every way possible. Almost. Today in the Big Bash League encounter between the Renegades and the Hurricanes, Reds batsman Sam Harper had a one-of-a-kind accident whilst taking a single, resulting in him getting a concussion.
Walking in to bat at 9/1, Harper, who’s enjoyed an incredible season thus far having scored close to 300 runs, had a tough task at hand, with the Hurricanes setting the home team a target of 191. And he started his innings off in perfect fashion, crunching a boundary over mid-wicket on just his second delivery. However, two deliveries later, things took a wild turn for the worse for both Harper and Renegades.
On the fourth ball of the fourth over, Harper, who was on strike, came down the track and whacked a Nathan Ellis slower ball down the ground, albeit straight to the fielder at mid-off. And due to the rush of blood after hitting the shot, the 23-year-old took off for what looked like an extremely risky single. And when the fielder at mid-off, Matthew Wade, took a shy at the stumps, it looked like Harper was gone for all money. The ball eventually evaded the stumps, but moments later, something worse unfolded for both the batsman and the team.
Harper, who’d put his head down and run towards the other end, realized in the very last moment that the bowler Ellis stood in-between him and the crease, meaning he had to quickly do something to evade a collision. And in attempt to do so, the right-hander, in the very last moment, tried jumping over the bowler.
However, unaware of Harper running towards him like a truck with brake failure, the bowler Ellis, who was crouching, ended up lifting his shoulders up. This resulted in Harper, who is relatively small and light-weighted, getting thrown a good few yards past the bowler, even beyond the stumps, and landing helmet-first onto the ground. The Renegades man instantly clutched the back of his head in pain and an array of players rushed to Harper to see if he was okay.
A few moments later, the youngster got back to his feet and looked ready to continue, but in the last moment, the doctors pulled him out of the game and asked him to leave the field. The broadcast team then revealed a couple of overs later that the right-hander was replaced in the team by Tom Cooper.
😨 Nasty collision in the middle between Sam Harper and Nathan Ellis. Play has stopped while the docs take a look at Harper #BBL09 pic.twitter.com/yDARqnMtRl
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 21, 2020
