Siddhartha Mishra| The News Minute| December 3, 2014| 3.52 pm IST
(Opinion)
“I could not think, I could not sleep. I was paralyzed. I tried to cry, but I could not. I was constantly praying without saying names. I wanted to stop playing cricket, but this is my career. I tried to forget about it, but I could not.”
Mbulelo Budaza said this. A pause is reserved for those who wish to “Google him”.
Also, there is no condescension as may be perceived in the earlier statement. It is entirely the point.
Budaza is the bowler whose bouncer caused the inadvertent death of Darryn Randall in a league game in South Africa last year.
We have to understand that Hughes’ death notwithstanding; there is a 22 year old with his entire career in front of him. At the risk of sounding insensitive, such injuries do happen in sport.
The media needs to lay off Sean Abbott.
Let’s be honest. Budaza would also not be in the news currently had it not been for the passing away of Phillip Hughes. The Australian batsman succumbed to internal bleeding on November 27 after being hit by a rising delivery just two days earlier.
In an interview to a South African website, Budaza, now 21, has a message for the bowler whose delivery was the last one Hughes’ faced. “It was not his fault. Maybe it will be better (for him) after a year”.
The entire cricketing fraternity understands and have supported the bowler from New South Wales, with former Aussie wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist tweeting, “May those footprints in the sand now support another young man in need”.
Articles like “Sean Abbott returns to training a week after the tragic accident that killed Phillip Hughes” only bring the spotlight back on the bowler who understandably will want to put this episode behind him. There will also be the people who’ll say “Sean Abbott may not play cricket again”; let him first.
The media focus and scrutiny will only be a deterrent for the young man who hopefully will not always be remembered for the incident which has been termed as a “freak accident”.
Budaza was only 19 when he bowled that fateful ball.
In this instance also we have a young fast bowler who made his debut for Australia a couple of months ago. Already undergoing counseling, there will always be voice in his head when he bends his back again to get that extra bounce from a typical Aussie wicket.
It’s not just him. More importantly, we need to move on, from him.
Let’s not make it any more difficult for the one who shouldn't be named.