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The players took to the field for the crunch clash – which will decide who will face South Africa in the final – with the defending champions wearing black armbands around their left arms. The armbands are a mark of respect to Ben Austin, who died following an accident in Melbourne which took place while he was batting in the nets earlier this week.The teenager was taken to hospital after being struck on the neck by a ball while training at Ferntree Gully. He had been facing balls thrown by a side-arm ahead of a T20 match, and was wearing a helmet which did not include a stem guard. He was put on life support at Monash Children's hospital but died on Thursday morning.In a statement from Ben's father, Jayce Austin, said: "We are utterly devastated by the passing of our beautiful Ben, who died earlier on Thursday morning. For Tracey and I, Ben was an adored son, deeply loved brother to Cooper and Zach and a shining light in the lives of our family and friends."This tragedy has taken Ben from us, but we find some comfort that he was doing something he did for so many summers - going down to the nets with mates to play cricket. He loved cricket and it was one of the joys of his life. We would also like to support his teammate who was bowling in the nets - this accident has impacted two young men and our thoughts are with he and his family as well."In addition Australia's players wearing black armbands, Ferntree Gully cricket club has launched a "put your bats out for Benny" campaign, similar to gestures following the death of Phil Hughes. The campaign will see local players leaving cricket bats outside their doors. A memorial is also planned for Australia men's T20I against India on Friday, and in upcoming Sheffield Shield matches around the county.What are stem guards?Stem guards, which protect batters' necks from being hit, were introduced after the death of Phil Hughes in 2014. All batters facing medium-pace bowling in Cricket Australia sanctioned competitions must wear helmet that both meets the latest standard, and a neck protector.However, Cricket Australia considered but decided against making neck protectors mandatory for community cricket, including junior cricket, in 2023. Stem guards have become a controversial subject since their introduction. Steve Smith, David Warner and other international players have resisted using them, citing restricted movement and discomfort when wearing them. Cricket Australia issued guidelines for community cricket in 2023 "strongly recommending" that every player should wear a neck protector.Cricket Victoria chief executive Nick Cummins confirmed that Austin was not wearing a stem guard at the time of the incident. “The temptation in moments like this is to move to solution modes,” Cummins told the media on Thursday. “At the moment, our focus is around providing support and counselling for those people who experienced the trauma.”Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
