The following is a list of famous cricketers who died while playing, died as a result of injuries sustained while playing, or died after becoming ill on the field. Cricket, one of the world’s most popular sports, is known as a gentleman’s game. Everyone remembers the most exciting moments in sports, the adrenaline rush that makes playing or watching the games so appealing. However, for some players, the adrenaline rush is fleeting. This is because there are fewer chances of players being rough on each other or dying as a result of an enraged scuffle between two players. However, several incidents stunned the world even back then. Regrettably, no sport is without its share of mishaps.
Nothing would be more upsetting than seeing cricketers lose their lives while playing the game. Let’s take a look at some of the most famous cricket players who died while playing the game throughout history.
Complete list of cricketers who died on the field | Fatalities in cricket history
| Player Name | Death Cause | Died On | Died Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jasper Vinall | A bat struck him on the head | 28 August 1624 | United Kingdom |
| James son of James Balchen | Assassinated by a Cricket Ball | buried 14 June 1764 | England |
| Frederick, Prince of Wales | He died as a result of pneumonia or a burst abscess caused by being hit with a cricket ball. | 20 March 1751 | United Kingdom |
| George Summers | A ball struck him on the head | 29 June 1870 | United Kingdom |
| HP Lighton | A return drive by the batsman struck the bowler. | 1872 | United Kingdom |
| Claude Wilson | Overcome by sunstroke | 29 June 1881 | United Kingdom |
| Frederick Randon | He was hit on the head by a ball at Lord’s in 1881 and never fully recovered, dying in February 1883. | 17 February 1883 | United Kingdom |
| Charles Lane, son of William Lane | A ball struck him in the heart. | 20 May 1895 | Paraguay |
| Arthur Earlam | The batsman’s return drive struck the 17-year-old bowler. | July 1921 | United Kingdom |
| Andy Ducat | Heart failure | 23 July 1942 | United Kingdom |
| Abdul Aziz | A ball struck him in the heart. | 17 January 1959 | Pakistan |
| Michael Ainsworth | Sudden Death | 28 August 1978 | United Kingdom |
| Wilf Slack | While batting, he collapsed. | 15 January 1989 | The Gambia |
| Ian Folley | While in the hospital being treated for an eye injury sustained on the field, he suffered a heart attack. | 30 August 1993 | United Kingdom |
| Raman Lamba | While fielding, he was hit on the head by a ball. | 20 February 1998 | Bangladesh |
| Wasim Raja | On the field, he had a heart attack. | 23 August 2006 | United Kingdom |
| Darryn Randall | A ball struck him on the head | 27 October 2013 | South Africa |
| Phillip Hughes | A ball struck him on the neck. | 27 November 2014 | Australia |
| Raymond van Schoor | Stroke | 20 November 2015 | Namibia |
Complete list of tragic deaths: Cricketers who died as a result of on-field injuries.
1. Jasper Vinall ( Died On 28 August 1624)
Jasper Vinall was the first cricketer to die as a result of a game-related incident. On August 28, 1624, he was accidentally struck on the forehead with a cricket bat during a game at Horsted Keynes and died thirteen days later. The fatality occurred when Vinall, a fielder, was struck on the head by a batsman who was attempting to hit the ball a second time to avoid being caught. As a result, Vinall is the first recorded cricket fatality.
The case was heard in a coroner’s court, which returned a misadventure verdict. The fact that both Jasper Vinall and the batsman Edward Tye were from West Hoathly, another village, suggests that games involving teams from different parishes were already being played at this early stage in the sport’s history. In 1647, Henry Brand was killed after being struck on the head during a match in Selsey, West Sussex.
2. James son of James Balchen
James son of James Balchen, was the second cricketer to die on the field while playing. We don’t have accurate information about this player. According to Wikipedia, this cricketer was buried on June 14, 1764, after being assassinated by a cricket ball in England.
3. Frederick, Prince of Wales (Died On 20 March 1751)
Cricket had become the country’s most popular team sport by the time Frederick arrived, and it thrived on gambling. Frederick developed an academic interest in cricket and soon became a genuine enthusiast, possibly because he wished to anglicize and thus fit in with his new society. He began by placing bets, then patronizing and playing the game, even forming his own team on several occasions.
Frederick, Prince of Wales was the third person to die while playing cricket. Prince of Wales died on March 31, 1751, at the age of 44, at Leicester House, his political ambitions unfulfilled (20 March 1750 OS). This was previously thought to be due to a burst lung abscess caused by a blow from cricket or a real tennis ball, but it is now thought to be due to a pulmonary embolism. On April 13, 1751, he was buried at Westminster Abbey. He is the most recent Prince of Wales not to have ascended to the throne of the United Kingdom.
4. George Summers (Died On 29 June 1870)
George Summers was a cricketer from England. He spent his entire first-class career with Nottinghamshire. Summers was hit by a short delivery from John Platts, a fast bowler at the time, during a match against MCC at Lord’s in 1870. He had to be carried off the field. He appeared to be fine, even recovering, for the rest of the day. George Summers died after four days and a train ride later as a result of the injury.
5. HP Lighton – Cricketers who died on the field in 1872
According to Wikipedia, HP Lighton was an English cricketer who died in 1872 as a result of a return drive by the batsman striking the bowler. We don’t have up-to-date information on HP Lighton, but if Cricketconcept obtains it, we’ll update this.
6. Claude Wilson
Claude Wilson was an English cricketer and footballer who died on June 29, 1881, in the United Kingdom from sunstroke. He was also an English amateur footballer who played for Oxford University in the 1880 FA Cup Final and made two appearances for England.
7. Frederick Randon
Frederick Randon was a first-class cricketer from England. In 1874, he made his first-class debut for the Marylebone Cricket Club against the North at Lord’s. He was hit on the head by a ball at Lord’s in 1881 and never fully recovered, he died on February 17, 1883, at the age of 37, in England.
8. Charles Lane (Died On May 20, 1895)
Charles Lane was an English cricketer who played in a few first-class matches for Cambridge University and Surrey between 1866 and 1870s. He was born in Kennington, which was part of Surrey at the time of his birth but is now an inner London suburb. Charles Lane died on May 20, 1895, after a ball struck him in the heart.
9. Arthur Earlam (July 1921) Cricketers who died on the field
On July 19, 1921, Arthur Earlam died after being struck by a return drive by the batsman. He also played cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and the Allahakbarries amateur cricket team in Runcorn, Cheshire, England, alongside authors.
10. Andrew Ducat (Died On 23 July 1942)
Andrew Ducat was a cricketer for England and Surrey as well as a footballer for England, making him one of a small group of people who have represented their country in both sports. After retiring from cricket in 1931, Andrew Ducat became a cricket coach at Eton College. He also worked as a sports reporter for the Daily Sketch. He died suddenly in 1942 at Lord’s Cricket Ground of an apparent heart attack after lunch while playing in a wartime cricket match between teams from his Home Guard unit from Surrey and another from Sussex. As a mark of respect for Andy Ducat, the game was immediately called off. He was 56 years old and the only person to die while playing in a match at Lord’s.
11. Abdul Aziz (The Pakistani cricketer Who died hitting a cricket ball on the field)
Aside from England’s players, Abdul Aziz was the first player from any other country to die on the field. Abdul Aziz was a Pakistani cricketer who was born in Karachi and died there. Aziz, a wicketkeeper and right-handed opening batsman, played eight first-class matches for Karachi before being killed by a cricket ball on January 17, 1959. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, but he was pronounced dead upon arrival.
12. Michael Ainsworth (28 August 1978)
Michael Ainsworth was an English cricketer and right-handed batsman who played for Worcestershire between 1946 and 1964, appearing in 49 matches and scoring 2034 runs at an average of 24.21. He also appeared on a number of occasions for Combined Services and Free Foresters. On the 28th of August 1978, while playing a match in London, England’s Michael Ainsworth died suddenly.
13. Wilf Slack (15 January 1989)
Wilfred Slack was an English cricketer who represented his country in three Test matches and two One Day Internationals in 1986. He played for a number of local teams, and at the age of 21, he was Buckinghamshire’s leading run-scorer with 748 runs in his debut season. He appeared in 237 first-class matches and 183 List A matches, scoring over 19000 runs. Wilf Slack, the Middlesex and England left-handed opener, collapsed and died while batting on January 15, 1989, in Banjul, The Gambia, at the age of 34.
14. Ian Folley (Died On 30 August 1993)
Ian Folley was an English cricketer who died on the field. He was a right-handed batsman and a left-arm bowler initially as a medium-pacer and later he became a spin bowler. Folley began his career as a seamer for Lancashire in 1982. After coaching and encouragement from Jack Bond, he switched to spin bowling. Ian Folley was hit underneath the eye in a freak accident while batting in a match against Workington and was taken to a local hospital for a minor operation to repair his perforated eyeball. While in the hospital being treated for an eye injury sustained on the field, he suffered a heart attack.
15. Raman Lamba (20 February 1998) Indian Cricketers who died on the field
Raman Lamba was a cricketer from India. Lamba had played four Tests and 32 One Day Internationals, mostly as a batsman. The man who rose to prominence in the 1986-87 one-day series against Australia, scoring a century and two fifties in just six matches, and called for Man of the Series. He was a popular player in Bangladesh’s Dhaka Premier League and has also played in unofficial One Day International matches for Ireland.
Raman Lamba remained the first-class scorer, with two triple-centuries and a Ranji Trophy average of 53. He died at the age of 38 being struck on the head while fielding at forwarding short leg during a club match in Bangladesh.
16. Wasim Raja (Died On 23 August 2006)
Wasim Raja was one of Pakistan’s greatest cricketers. He became captain of Pakistan’s Under-19 team and later became the team’s coach. From 1973 to 1985, he represented Pakistan in 54 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and 57 Tests. He scored 782 runs in ODIs and 2821 runs in Tests. Between 2002 and 2004. Wasim Raja referred 15 Tests and 34 One-Day Internationals to the International Cricket Council. Wasim Raja died in 2006 while playing for the Surrey over-50s team in England.
17. Darryn Randall (Died On 27 October 2013)
Darryn Randall, a South African cricketer, died on October 27, 2013, after a ball struck him in the head. He was attempting to pull a shot when the ball struck his head. He collapsed on the field and was rushed to the hospital, but he died upon arrival. On his final day, Darryn Randall was playing in the Eastern Cape. He appeared in four first-class matches and the same number of List A games for Border. It was a tragic accident.
18. Phillip Hughes (Died On 27 November 2014)
It came as a huge surprise to cricket fans, who had never expected it to happen to such a promising cricketer as Philip Hughes. All cricket fans have many questions, such as when and how Phillip Hughes died. What was the cause of Phillip Hughes’ death? When Phillip Hughes died, who bowled? There are so many more questions that come to mind.
Phillip Hughes, 25, died at the age of 25 after being struck by a bouncer on the side of his head, below the helmet. Hughes was hit during a Shield game in Sydney when he missed an attempted hook, resulting in a cerebral hemorrhage. “This was a freak accident because it was a neck injury that caused a brain hemorrhage,” Brukner said. “The condition is extremely rare.” It’s called vertebral artery dissection with subarachnoid hemorrhage, and there have only been about 100 cases reported in the literature.”
Sean Abbott bowled a 135 kmph bouncer that skidded on the Sydney Cricket Ground pitch, dismissing Phillip Hughes for 63. Phillip Hughes was hit on the side of the neck because he was slightly late on the pull. Phillip Hughes appeared to be dazed. After a few seconds, the batsman came to a halt.
19. Raymond van Schoor (20 November 2015) Cricketers who died on the field
Raymond Schoor was a cricketer from Namibia. He was a right-handed batsman who also served as a wicketkeeper on occasion. Van Schoor made his first-class and List A debut for Namibia in October 2007, when he was seventeen years old. Raymond van Schoor, a wicketkeeper-batsman who was a mainstay in Namibia’s batting line-up, had amassed over 8000 runs for his country in 265 career games, making him the country’s most capped player, before being tragically killed by an on-field stroke in November 2015, at the age of 25.
Also, Read- Best Wicket Keepers In The T20 World Cup
Conclusion
I hope you found all of the information you were looking for regarding which cricketer died on the field as a result of injuries. We invite you to share your thoughts in the comments section below. The information in this article was compiled entirely from the official Wikipedia and ESPNcricinfo.com. This list of cricketers who died on the field is subject to change at any time without notice. Crickettipmaster.com makes no guarantees about the accuracy of the information.
