Son feared he had 'killed his dad' with cricket ball scoring a six

Andy Barnard’s joy at scoring a six quickly turned to horror when he thought he had ‘killed’ his dad as he watched the ball soar over the boundary and strike him. The dramatic incident occurred during a Division Seven AMS Gloucestershire County League game, where Painswick 2nds played away to Oakridge.

Andy, the chair of Painswick, said, “I’m not particularly quick these days between the wickets, but I flew off the pitch. It was pretty scary thinking that I might have killed my own dad.” The ball hit 75-year-old Richard, universally known as ‘Mac’, on his neck between his shoulder blades. Thankfully, he was okay with continuing to score the match, which eventually ended in a ten-run victory for Painswick.

Giving a blow-by-blow account of his shot on Saturday, Andy, the number three batter for the second team, said: “It was the third ball of the season. I just whipped it away towards the roof, and it hit him on the head without him realising that it would hit him, so he didn’t take any evasive action.

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“I thought the ball was going to land on the roof of the pavilion, which at Oakridge is at midwicket, but at the very last minute, it dipped and dropped to hit Dad, who collapsed to the ground,” Andy added. “Fortunately, he did not lose consciousness, and although he was left with a big bruise, he could see the funny side of it all.”

Andy went on to score 22 runs during his innings. “I did hit another six, which hit a bench that a woman was sitting on, so it was quite an eventful 22,” he said.

“Thankfully, Dad is fine now. He’s quite stoic and said he was going to carry on scoring and didn’t want to make a fuss, although he couldn’t join us at our darts evening later in the night as he had to go home. He’s been taking it steady over the weekend.”

75-year-old Mac has been involved with cricket all his life. Andy explained, “He absolutely loves the sport and was playing right up until before COVID-19.

“Years ago, he was hit in the head and had to have 20 stitches above his eye, so he said what happened Saturday wasn’t even the worst injury he’s had while playing,” Andy shared.

Andy, who took over as chair of the Painswick Cricket Club this year, has been playing at Painswick for 13 years but has been playing on and off across the county for over 20 years.