Here we go, lads. That’s how Ben Austin always started. The loudest kid on the field, the 17-year-old Gully boy and all-rounder would yell out the words before a game, an enduring chant he’d use to rev up his teammates.
But today, Wally Tew Reserve in Ferntree Gully is quiet. The cricket nets — once a place of teamwork and practice — have become the site of mourning and confusion. The nets are lined with flowers, cards, cricket jerseys and bats. One young cricketer has left a bottle of Gatorade and a bag of lollies. Another a pack of iced strawberry doughnuts.
Those who knew and loved him best are struggling to piece together those final, tragic moments: the casual banter and training – then the ball that changed everything.
Facing a throw-down delivered with a sidearm “wanger” — a handheld ball throwing device — Ben was struck in the neck by the ball. He was wearing a helmet, but not a neck protector, and the accident was immediately likened to the ball that claimed the life of Australian batsman Phil Hughes a decade ago.
What they do know is that Ben was treated at the scene in Melbourne’s outer east by Ferntree Gully Cricket Club members, then specialist paramedics. A defibrillator was on site. Ben was rushed to Monash Medical Centre in Clayton in a critical condition and placed on life support. He died on Thursday morning.
His parents, Jace and Tracey Austin, said their son radiated joy and that people were drawn to his light.
“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,” they said in a statement.
Junior cricketer Ben Austin was struck by a ball in the cricket nets on Tuesday night.Credit: Ferntree Gully Cricket Club
“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.”
Speaking only hours after their son’s death on Thursday, the family offered kindness, paying tribute to Ben’s teammate who was bowling in the nets. It is, they know, a different type of horror for him. “This accident has impacted two young men and our thoughts are with he and his family as well,” the statement read.
The club is also reeling. “You’ll always be a Gully boy, Benny,” said club president Lee Thompson, holding up the cap Ben earned upon his 2025 season debut. Visibly emotional, Thompson said the club had been holding vigil for Ben at the nets since he was hospitalised on Tuesday night. “As a club we’re absolutely devastated,” he said.
Teammate Liam Vertigan remembered him as “the loudest kid on the field” with a heart of gold. “You’d always hear him calling ‘here we go, lads’ before a game, even on the livestreams. We’ll notice the silence now.”
Thompson said Ben’s family had asked the community to “put your cricket bats out for Benny”. He’d been slated to play a game this coming Tuesday.
Ben was a dedicated sportsman, skilled with a bat and ball and a Sherrin. He played more than 100 games for the Waverley Park Hawks junior football club and was runner-up in this season’s club best and fairest.
“He was definitely going places,” said Vertigan. “He’d always tell me what he was up to, in footy too as well as [cricket]. ”
Champion Victoria wicketkeeper Darren Berry, who also coached Ben as director of cricket at Rowville Sports Academy, called him a “a talented cricketer on the rise” and “a beautiful respectful young man.”
Berry has been touched by tragedy more than once – mourning the deaths of former coach David Hookes, former teammates and close friends Shane Warne and Dean Jones, as well as his former protege Phillip Hughes. Now, he has the task of guiding students at Ben’s school through the difficult days ahead.
“[Ben] was an enthusiastic, very fit young man who showed outstanding leadership qualities,” Berry told this masthead.
The ball that changed everything
A wanger is used to throw cricket balls without putting strain on the bowler’s shoulder. The ball was thrown on the full – without bouncing on the pitch first – by accident, Cricket Victoria chief executive Nick Cummins said.
Ben Austin was practicing with a teammate when a ball struck him in the neck.Credit: Justin McManus
The promising young teenager, a student at Rowville Sports Academy, was not listed to play in the T20 cricket match against Eildon Park on Tuesday, but he was training as clubmates warmed up.
He was wearing a helmet at the time, but it did not have a stem guard, which adds a layer of protection to the neck.
The game was abandoned after Ben was injured.
Lee Thompson, president of Ferntree Gully Cricket Club, holding a cap which was presented to Ben before his debut game. Credit: Justin McManus
Cricket Victoria is planning to pay tribute to Ben on the final day of its Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania at Junction Oval on Friday.
Cricket Australia will also pay tribute during the T20 game between Australia and India at the MCG on Friday night.
Cummins, from Cricket Victoria, said he had a son of the same age and sympathised with the family.
Ben died in hospital on Wednesday.Credit: Ferntree Gully Cricket Club Facebook
“[Ben] played not just at Ferntree Gully but at Mulgrave, he played at Mt Waverley. He was basically using every one of his waking hours to play cricket,” Cummins said.
“That’s what makes it so hard – it’s a very bright light that has been dimmed.”
He compared Ben’s death to that Hughes, who died in 2014 after being stuck in the neck by a ball during a Sheffield Shield match.
A coroner’s report into Hughes’ death recommended stem guards be mandatory and in 2023 Cricket Australia made it a formal instruction for players representing Australia.
Asked if Ben’s death meant stem guards should become mandatory for cricketers at all levels, Cummins said the focus needed to be on supporting the Austin family.
The cricketing community is mourning Austin’s passing. Credit: Justin McManus
“It’s often a response to a tragedy that people feel like they need to do something straight away,” Cummins said. “There will be a time to do something. Just need to make sure that we focus on the people who are directly impacted in the immediate time.”
Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird said: “Clearly, there are things that we have to learn from this, but right now, we are concerned about the family and trying to support them in every way.”
Ben was also a much-loved footballer at the Waverley Park Hawks junior football club, where he started playing in the under-eight team.
The Australian cricketing community is mourning the loss of talented young player Ben Austin. Credit: Justin McManus
“He was a real gentle kind of guy, just incredibly respectful,” club president Mick Mastromanno said.
“I coached him for quite a few years, and he’d just be the kind of kid that at the end of every training session would come up and shake your hand and thank you for your efforts. And … the same after games.
“He was just a really, really nice kid, very quiet and respectful.”
By late Thursday, the nets at Wally Tew Reserve had become a memorial. School friends arrived in uniform, hugging each other and sitting in the grass to watch the garden of tributes grow.
The face of one bat is covered in handwritten messages. One reads: “forever 14 not out” – an echo of the tragic accident that claimed the life of one of the greats a decade ago.
Now, it marks the end of a Gully great and Ben Austin’s last innings.
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