SA Footy

A cricket umpire died at the weekend after being hit on the head by a ball thrown by a fielder.

Alcwyn Jenkins, 72, was officiating on Saturday in a local league match at the St Helen's ground in Swansea, South Wales when the accident happened. He was airlifted to hospital but died shortly afterwards.

Neil Hobbs, honorary chairman of the South Wales Cricket Association, told The Times: "The throw would have been from about 40 yards (metres) away. No one can quite believe it has happened.

"Umpires do get hit by the ball occasionally, but the chances of it being a fatality must be less than one in a million."

When i read about this it reminded me of an incident with stefan edberg during the boys final U.S. Open 1983:

Edberg was involved in a freak accident during the boys' singles final at the 1983 US Open, when Richard Wertheim, a linesman, was struck by a ball hit by Edberg. Wertheim toppled backwards off his chair fracturing his skull as he hit the ground. Wertheim died later from this injury.