Phillip Hughes' tragic death came back to haunt Australia after star all-rounder Shane Watson was hit on the helmet by a vicious bouncer from pacer James Pattinson during their training session at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday.
The 33-year-old was left shaken by the fierce blow to the head and he left the MCG nets following the incident that put an early end to Australia's training session.
Selector Mark Waugh and a Cricket Australia spokeswoman later said that Watson will be monitored for signs of concussion ahead of the Boxing Day Test. Waugh said Watson was "pretty much OK to start off with, then he felt off-colour back in his hotel room".
"So I believe he's going to have a few tests overnight and we'll see how he comes up in the morning so hopefully he'll be OK to play in the Test match," Waugh told Channel Ten's BBL coverage.
He said the selectors would wait on the results of the tests before deciding whether to call up another all-rounder or batsman to the squad. Pattinson too looked distressed as he also walked out of the nets even as players and officials walked up to Watson to check on him.
Watson was hit on the helmet when he tried to dodge the bouncer. The impact caused Watson to fall to his knees as he removed his helmet, inspected it and then walked off. He sat with his head in his hands for several minutes before leaving the session with team doctor Peter Brukner, who treated him.
Watson skipped the team's public appearance at the MCG for Cricket Australia's Family Day activities, returning instead to the team hotel. Vice-captain Brad Haddin later confirmed his teammate had escaped unscathed but did not want to read too much into the incident.
"I had a chat to him - he's a bit shaken, but he's ok. It's just getting hit in the head - he's just a bit shaken," Haddin said. "He's shaken as anyone would be. I can't really go into any more details because there's no more details to give."
A CA spokeswoman said team doctor Peter Brukner kept an eye on Watson during the day and he "seems fine".
"He (Brukner) will look at him again in the morning just to be sure. As with any knocks to the head, players are monitored by medical staff for signs of concussion," the spokeswoman said.
The incident brought back tragic memories of Hughes' death, which the Australian cricketers are still battling, more than two weeks after the young batsman had fallen to a fatal bouncer during a Sheffield Shield game.
Earlier, Mitchell Starc too seemed to hurt his knee while batting in the nets alongside Watson. It seemed Starc inside edged a delivery from a net bowler onto his knee, and yelled in pain. Starc sat momentarily in the nets, before limping out of the nets. He stopped to clutch the problem area before being escorted into the changerooms.
"I think he's trying to get out of having to bowl," Haddin joked. "He's all right. He just hit the ball onto the inside of his knee."
Image: Shane Watson of Australia is seen to by the club doctor after being hit in the helmet whilst batting in the nets during an Australian training session at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Photo: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
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