Mark Howard was hospitalized after the delivery from Brett Lee injured him. This came ahead of the second Test between India and Australia, which will be a pink-ball Test and will be played from 6th December in Adelaide.
Brett Lee and Mark Howard, who are part of the commentary panel for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, were involved in a promotional shoot in Sydney ahead of the Adelaide Test. The duo was involved in a bowling challenge and it saw the latter getting injured.
Bail went flying straight into the head of Mark Howard
Brett Lee bowled a delivery that hit the top of the off stump, and the bail went flying straight into the head of Mark Howard, who was doing wicketkeeping. Immediately after that, he was rushed to hospital after he was bleeding badly following the hit.
Mark Howard was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and got stitches on his head. Thankfully, the bail didn’t hit him in the eye, and the commentator will be available for the second Test between India and Australia.
He was bleeding pretty badly – Brett Lee on Mark Howard
Brett Lee provided an update about Mark Howard, saying that the bail impaled him right in the middle of the head. He also claimed that he never saw bail flying this fast in his career and also confirmed that Howard would be available for the second Test. Speaking to Fox Cricket, he explained:
“We were filming today, doing a bowling challenge. I bowled a ball, it went through the top of off, Howie was keeping, he’s caught the ball and I’ve heard two noises. I’ve seen him hunched over, and I thought, ‘geez, what’s happened,’ and I’ve realised the bail has flown through and impaled him right in the middle of the head, and there was claret everywhere.
“He was bleeding pretty badly. But in all my years playing cricket at a professional level, I’ve never seen a bail travel that quick or that fast. It was a one in a million chance of it happening and I think the bail hit him first before he caught the ball, which means it must have literally hit the top of off stump. He’ll be raring to go come Friday. Nothing changes for us.”
I’m glad it didn’t hit me in the eye – Mark Howard
Mark Howard talked about his injury, saying that he is glad that the ball didn’t hit his eye. He also mentioned he would be there for the commentary for the second Test against India and explained:
“It was one in a million to happen. I’m glad it didn’t hit me in the eye. He was very concerned. There was blood everywhere and then there was a discussion, ‘no, no, definitely no ambulance’, but there was a hospital literally 200 metres up the road,”
“I didn’t realise, but I managed to take the ball in the gloves, which I was happy about. Binga was very compassionate and caring but he was very happy it was captured on so many cameras I think. I’ll be there for the first ball on Friday and no doubt I’ll be getting a lot of sympathy from my Fox Cricket commentary teammates. I’m sure it’ll get a fair run across the coverage unfortunately,” he concluded.
Also read: Ben Stokes goes to war with ICC for their brutal ruling against England Cricket Team