Brian Lara hopes fast bowling has future in wake of Phillip Hughes' injury

Brian Lara hopes there will be no wider implications for the future of fast bowling in the wake of Phillip Hughes' injury.

Hughes remains in a critical condition in a Sydney hospital after being hit on the head by a short ball from Sean Abbott during South Australia's Sheffield Shield clash with New South Wales at the SCG.

The 25-year-old underwent emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain and specialists are awaiting the results of further scans before giving any updates about his condition.

I think it's a sport and you are always going to have that element of risk. This is an unfortunate and rare situation.

West Indies legend Lara says his first thoughts are obviously with Hughes but he hopes people will understand the accident was a rare occurrence as well as being a reminder that cricket has always been a dangerous sport.

"It's very unfortunate, batsmen face all sorts of dangers, we can just pray for him," Lara said.

"I know all of Australia and all of the cricketing world are praying he comes back to play and to full health.

"I think it's a sport and you are always going to have that element of risk. This is an unfortunate and rare situation.

"I felt safe playing but there was that element of risk, I used to say a little prayer in the morning and just hope for the best."

Armoury

Lara recalls being hit on the head a couple of times during his career, by Glenn McGrath and Shoaib Akhtar, but he says facing short bowling is part of the game and something he does not want to see disappear from the sport,

"I think they've done their best over the years to curb it and manage it as best as possible," he added.

"But it's part of a fast bowlers armoury and it's very hard to take that totally away from them.

"There are some batsmen who feed on that sort of attack and I don't really believe it's anything that should affect fast bowlers and the rules governing that."

Lara's West Indies team-mate Phil Simmons went through a similar experience to Hughes when playing against Gloucestershire in 1988 and he was not even wearing a helmet when struck on the head by a David Lawrence bouncer.

"My wife called me as soon as it happened," Simmons told the BBC's World Service. "He is the same age as I was with the same name. I think there's an omen somewhere that he will pull through and I hope so.

"I had known 'Syd' (nickname for Lawrence) from a long time before. We were friends before that through (West Indies paceman) Courtney Walsh.

"My wife told me when I was in the hospital bed he came to visit. He was holding my hand with tears running down his cheek. A bowler is never to blame. It's just one of those unfortunate things that happens once in every long while."