The family of Australian Test cricketer Phillip Hughes has issued a heartbreaking statement to the family of a 17-year-old boy who died in similar circumstances.

Ben Austin, 17, was reportedly warming up in the nets before a match between Ferntree Gully and Eildon Park in Melbourne’s southeast on Tuesday afternoon when he was struck in the head and neck area.

The teenager was wearing a helmet at the time of the incident, but not a neck guard, Cricket Victoria confirmed.

He was treated at the scene before being rushed to Monash Medical Center in a critical condition and placed on life support. He could not be saved.

‘All too well’

On Thursday afternoon, the Hughes family extended their sympathies to Ben’s family.

Phillip Hughes was hit in the neck during a Sheffield Shield match at th

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