With Australia wicketkeeper Josh Inglis becoming the latest casualty among players suffering freak injuries on the golf course, questions are being asked if hitting the fairway ahead of major competitions is the right thing to do for cricketers.
Reserve wicketkeeper Inglis suffered a deep cut on his right hand after his golf club broke as soon as it hit the ball. The 27-year-old joins charismatic England batter Jonny Bairstow, who suffered a freak leg injury on the golf course, which has ruled him ruled him out for the rest of the year.
It was no surprise that the question on whether golf should be banned before a major tournament popped up during Australia skipper Aaron Finch's pre-match press conference on Friday.The 35-year-old top-order batter said he himself was one of the players in Josh Inglis's group when his golf club broke on impact.
"That was a freak accident. I was playing in Josh's (Inglis) group, and I feel so bad for him because we all Maxy (Glenn Maxwell) had played his shot, and then Josh hit. We didn't realise the club broke. We just thought he hit it poorly, and we looked down, and there was blood everywhere.
"So that was a freak accident. His clubs must have gotten damaged while travelling or something like that. But it was pretty distressing for a little bit, especially with all the unknowns. When we got the news there was no tendon damage or anything; that was a big relief.
Disappointed he missed out on another opportunity to be part of the squad for the World Cup," said Finch.Finch said Inglis was visibly distressed at missing the World Cup action."He (Inglis) was obviously a little distressed with it (injury).
It was just like the unknown because there was so much blood and stuff there we wouldn't really see the wound. We could see it was deep, but not a huge amount."Yeah, he was obviously pretty flat. World Cup is a pretty special event, and for him to now be missing out of our 15 is disappointing for Josh and especially for the rest of the group because he's such a great guy.
He brings a lot of energy to our squad. Throughout the last World Cup as well, he was an integral part of I mean, he didn't play, but the off-field team as well, which is as important as on field at times because it keeps the group together a lot," added Finch.