David Warner "shaken up" after net bowler is struck on head during Australia training session

The session was temporarily stopped for close to 20 minutes while the bowler received treatment from medical staff

Australia captain Aaron Finch admitted David Warner was left visibly upset after the opening batsman struck a young net bowler on the head while batting in practice.

Finch’s charges were training ahead of Sunday’s encounter with India at The Oval when a drive from Warner, who made an unbeaten 89 in his first game against Afghanistan, hit Jaykishan Plaha.

The session was temporarily stopped for close to 20 minutes while the bowler received treatment from medical staff, before he was taken to hospital for a precautionary check. An ICC spokesperson confirmed that the medium-pacer had been concussed, but that he was said to be conscious and smiling after the incident. He was stretchered off the ground.

“Dave was obviously pretty shaken up,” Finch said. “The young guy seems to be in pretty good spirits at the moment. He's obviously been taken off to hospital and will continue to be assessed just to make sure that everything is okay.

“But yeah, Dave was pretty shaken up, no doubt. It was a decent hit to the head. Yeah, hopefully everything keeps going well for the youngster and he's back up and running shortly. Yeah, it was tough to watch.”

^{Warner struck 89 against Afghanistan in his first innings of the tournament.}

The Australian skipper added: “It's quite rare that somebody gets hit, and it's obviously very unfortunate.

The medical staff that were on hand, obviously our own medical staff, doctor and physio and also the medical staff, paramedics at the ground, did a great job in being there very quickly to assess and make sure that all the right protocols and right processes were put in place.

As batsmen have hit the ball harder and bowlers have bowled the ball quicker, talk has increased of the need to provide added protection to those around the bat.

James Anderson has spoken in recent times of the possibility of helmets for bowlers.

“That could be a decent idea,” Finch confessed. “Again, it's a bit like everything; it's such a personal preference for net bowlers, and we're very lucky to have so many of them come in and want to bowl to us and help us prepare as best we can for the game.

“But I think it's going to be a personal preference, and like I said, it's lucky that there were so many good medical team on standby.”

Surrey, who play their domestic cricket at The Oval, arrange the bowlers for these sessions, though they are not Surrey staff.

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