The death of a 27-year-old Australian teacher after a football game has renewed concerns about the safety of concrete cricket pitches used on fields shared by multiple sports.
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Nathan Fitzgerald died Monday at a Melbourne hospital after suffering a series of head injuries during an Australian rules football match over the weekend, according to multiple reports.
Fitzgerald, who played for the Epping Football Netball Club's reserve team, reportedly collided with another player while making a tackle before striking his head again as he fell. He then hit his head on a concrete-based cricket pitch covered by a synthetic surface in the middle of the field.
His death has prompted renewed calls from sports safety advocates to eliminate concrete-based cricket wickets from community football grounds.
"Common sense would tell you that this was an accident waiting to happen," neurophysiologist Alan Pearce, whose research focuses on sports-related concussions, told The Guardian. Pearce said concrete provides virtually no impact absorption, increasing the risk of severe brain injuries.
Annitta Siliato, executive director of Concussion Legacy Foundation Australia, also called the pitches "totally unsafe" and urged government officials and sports organizations to work toward replacing them.
According to The Guardian, concrete cricket pitches have been used for decades at community grounds that host both cricket and Australian rules football, particularly where clubs lack the resources to maintain natural turf wickets. Historians say concerns about their dangers date back more than a century, with documented fatal incidents stretching to at least the 1930s.
Tributes poured in for Fitzgerald following his death, with his school describing the teacher as "deeply loved, valued and respected." Australian Football League clubs are expected to wear black armbands during this weekend's matches in his honor.
