Tragedy unfortunately is a part of life. Normally, the closer the tradegy is to you the more you are affected by it. However not in the case of Australian cricketer Phil Hughes. A prodigious batting talent and prolific run-scorer with a bright future ahead of him, Australian cricketer Phil Hughes tragically lost his life on November 27, 2014, two days after he was struck by a short ball while batting for South Australia in a Sheffield Shield match against New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Hughes’s death triggered an outpouring of emotion rarely witnessed in not only cricket, but by the general population both in Australia and globally, as a result of the media coverage of the tragedy. The 25-year-old cricketer was a hugely popular figure within the sport, both domestically and internationally. His death touched the compassionate part of people’s hearts with tributes occurring across the globe.
Source; The Australian newspaper
It was while watching the ill-fated bowl that led to Phil Hughes’s death that I could not help turn my attention to what is so easily possible as a parallel circumstance to occur in hockey. The potential danger of drag flicking again reared its ‘ugly head’ in the thoughts of this writer. Having witnessed an international player ‘wear’ a elevated drag flick ball directly and a hockey friend who woke up in hospital being struck in the side of the head in a similar way to Phil Hughes puts ‘shivers’ up one’s spine. Am I a wimp? Having lost teeth and a few facial scars as a result of ‘wearing’ hockey balls in the face I would like to think not. I can identify and agree with what Rick Charlesworth said recently in The India Times, i.e.,
Drag-flick in hockey a threat to player’s life, says Ric Charlesworth – Phil Hughes’ death on the cricket field is a grim realization that hockey too has a potentially dangerous weapon that can maim or kill its players. The drag-flick, for long a subject of debate, comes under scrutiny not only for the speed at which it is delivered but also the hapless men who bravely attempt to thwart it in a penalty corner with hardly any protective gear. Former Australia coach Ric Charlesworth, who has for long argued for the elimination of the drag-flick and the dilution of the penalty corner, feels the hockey world is waiting for a disaster to happen on the field.
There is not a better time for FIH to review its current position on the type of face masks that are in use and the role of the drag flick in modern hockey.
With regards to the use of face masks, the photo above tells a story of how on one hand we have a fully padded up goal keeper set to defend a possible drag flick and next to her is a defender with a visible face mask, possible hand glove and possible groin protection only. Makes no sense when you compare who is best prepared to defend a drag flick. Particularly when take into account if the drag flicker is doing their job she certainly will not be aiming to put the ball directly towards at the goalkeeper.
The next consideration is that, like Phil Hughes, what is generally the natural human instinct to do when a ball is coming directly or indirectly to a defender wearing a face mask – TURN YOUR HEAD. My hockey friend described earlier did just that and he now is bodily affected by getting struck in the side of the ear from turning his head away. Therefore if you consider this position which of the following would you prefer to players to wear for protection. What will FIH do?
OR 
The third consideration is the drag flick itself. Being at and watching the World Cup it is obvious that penalty corners are a delight to a team who possess a lethal drag flicker in their team. This is now evident at every level of hockey. It is rare to see a corner hitter in action these days. Drag flicking on penalty corners and conversions as a result of having from this are now changing the context of the game and having a direct influence on the game result. A team may be not the strongest team terms of game play but still can win because of drag flick conversions. It can be argued that they first must get the penalty corner. This is true but how often a minor or incident breach by the defenders in the circle leads to a penalty corner conversion. Play for a corner becomes the game strategy emphasis of team play rather than trying to score a field goal. So what is the solution? Like Ric Charlesworth, I believe penalty corner conversions should be diluted or accentuate a field goal conversion to be worth 3 points and a penalty corner 1 point for example.
In this way hockey will become even more a spectator orientated game and a true team game due to a resulting change in game strategy emphasis. I am sure this would be more aligned to FIH international more focused marketing of hockey as part of the ‘hockey revolution campaign’
Finally if things stay the way they are regarding drag flicking then it is suggested that the height of the drag flick be brought in line with a penalty corner hit. Let’s face it the drag flick shot travels as fast as a hit these days. A more safety conscious option. Otherwise it could be a fatal tragedy waiting to happen.
Source: various
