
Aussie cricket stars warn climate change could KILL the sport
The Hit for Six: The Danger Zone report, commissioned by FrontRunners, The British Association for Sustainability in Sport, Climate Central and The Next Test, highlights how players - from grassroots to international cricket stars - are potentially gambling with their lives by competing in conditions exceeding 37 degrees.
The report revealed that in 2024 alone, Pakistan saw at least 83 days where cricket was played as the mercury soared past 37 degrees, which is the threshold beyond which outdoor activity becomes unsafe.
India saw dangerous game-day temperatures on 52 days, while in Australia the figure was 46 days.
The effects of increased temperatures include nausea, fatigue, breathlessness and cramps.
In this year's Indian Premier League (IPL) - which features the likes of Aussies Pat Cummins and Josh Hazelwood - more than half of the 65 matches were played in conditions classified as either Extreme Caution or Danger on the Heat Index, a measure which combines air temperature and humidity to assess heat-related risk.
The Hit for Six: The Danger Zone report also revealed many IPL games this year were played in dangerous conditions, with air pollution also a concern (pictured left, Aussie paceman Josh Hazlewood playing for Royal Challengers)
'We are witnessing a clear trend towards more frequent and more intense heat conditions for key cricketing nations,' Dr Mike Tipton, Professor of Human & Applied Physiology at the Extreme Environments Laboratory at the University of Portsmouth, outlined in the report.
'Players are now being asked to perform in environments that are not just uncomfortable, but potentially dangerous, with rising temperatures and humidity levels pushing human physiology toward its upper limits.
'This isn't just about performance — it's increasingly a question of player safety.'
Air pollution is also a major factor in India, with research conducted by The Next Test revealing none of the 75 IPL matches this year had 'good' air quality.
Australian all-rounder Ashton Turner has seen enough and called for change.
'I've seen the impact our changing climate can have on our game, from the debilitating air pollution in Delhi to the extreme temperatures we experience in our Australian summers,' he told the ABC.
'Ever-increasing temperatures are putting the game at risk and it's affecting everyone from players to coaches to umpires to spectators.
'We've seen elite athletes at the pinnacle of the sport be struck down from heat exhaustion, [so] how are the under-10's boys and girls meant to cope on hot days?
Former Test star Simon Katich is on the same page, stating he is 'very concerned about the future of the game and younger generations being affected by extreme weather.'
The report also recommended that national federations join Cricket Australia in implementing new heat policy guidelines.
It comes after a cricketer in his 40s died during a match that was played in extreme heat in Adelaide earlier this year.
Junaid Zafar Khan could not be revived after collapsing on the field during the game at Concordia College Oval, which went ahead with the mercury hitting 41.7 degrees.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Liam Dawson brings control to England's attack - here's how he can put himself right in the Ashes mix, writes NASSER HUSSAIN
We used to have a saying in selection: Pick on character. And I think Liam Dawson has got an abundance of character. He would have been nervous yesterday because you're always a better player when you're out of the side. To come into the team mid-series is not easy, especially when you have been out of it for eight years and a lot of people have been calling for your return. However much he says he is just taking everything as a bonus at his age, it is still playing for England in an iconic series, that the country is taking about and that's started to kick off. So when you're suddenly brought in, you will feel the heat and you have to perform. And he certainly did that yesterday. Dawson is the polar opposite to the man he has replaced, Shoaib Bashir. He is a veteran left-arm spinner with 15 five-wicket hauls in first-class cricket and knows his game inside out. He is the finished article. Bashir, meanwhile, is a young right arm off-spinner who was plucked from nowhere from a social media feed because he has a high release point. What Dawson brings to this England team is control, which Bashir is still seeking and looking for. On the first day at Old Trafford, when it's not spinning a lot, you need to offer your team and your captain that control so that he can rotate the seamers at the other end. Dawson did that beautifully. India's run rate dropped in the second session because of his control. Bashir gets more over spin, drop and bounce because he is taller than Dawson and has that high release point. If you think of Bashir's wicket to win the Test at Lord's, the ball span back and rolled on to Mohammed Siraj's stumps because it bounced up on him. Dawson, with his lower action, may struggle to get that. But he is more accurate and challenges the pad of the right hander, as well as the outside edge of the left hander from that rough and with the drift that he gets. We saw that with his wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal. Because Dawson is landing it in the rough all the time, Jaiswal didn't know if it was going to spin or not, and his natural variation and drift meant he took the outside edge and it carried to Harry Brook at first was also very good captaincy from Ben Stokes. Jaiswal is a fine player of spin, as Tom Hartley found out in India. But Stokes put a deep point in, which may have made Jaiswal push at the ball and open the blade, trying to get a single to the boundary. What Dawson also has in his favour over Bashir, and another left-arm spinner Jack Leach, is that he is a multi-dimensional cricketer. He is very good in the field and a very good No8. With Dawson batting at eight, Chris Woakes at nine, Brydon Carse at 10 and Jofra Archer at 11, that is suddenly a very good lower order, which is going to be needed not only in the rest of this series, but also in Australia in the winter. My former England coach Duncan Fletcher always wanted complete cricketers in his team. We had to move on from Phil Tufnell, who was a wonderful left-arm spinner and I absolutely loved captaining, because he didn't bat and didn't field, and we picked Ashley Giles, who was very good at gully and got you useful runs. If Dawson has two really good games against India, the debate will be about whether he should become England's No1 spinner and play against Australia. But that's for another time. He's had one good day and he's got one wicket – but he did his role and that's all you can ask of anyone you bring into your team.


Daily Mail
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
'GUTTED IT ENDED THE WAY IT DID ...' Stricken Darcy Graham admits his tour with British and Irish Lions is over
Darcy Graham has confirmed his British and Irish Lions tour is over after his tearful exit from the field in Melbourne this week. The Scotland winger had been elated to receive a late call-up by head coach Andy Farrell after missing out on the initial squad. However, his dream Lions debut turned sour just minutes after touching down for a try against a First Nations and Pasifika XV when he was forced to hobble off with an ankle injury. The 28-year-old, who was consoled by Scotland team-mate Finn Russell as he watched the rest of a 24-19 win from the bench, yesterday posted a message on Instagram admitting his Lions adventure has been cut cruelly short. '16 minutes I'll never forget,' he wrote. 'It's been a rollercoaster of a journey but it was a dream come true to pull on the famous red jersey and make my Lions debut. 'Gutted it ended the way it did, but so proud to have been part of this special group. Thank you for all the support. We try again in 4 years time...'. Edinburgh star Graham, who was later seen wearing a protective boot, has suffered a series of injuries in recent times and will be anxiously awaiting the results of a scan. Called up for the injured Mack Hansen, he will miss the final two Tests against Australia, with Farrell's men needing one more win to clinch the series after last weekend's opening victory. Farrell said after Graham's latest injury upset: 'He's devastated. He was so upset. You could see how much it meant to him hobbling off. He's got a Lions caps, he's played for the British and Irish Lions and scored a try. He'll remember that forever.'


Times
an hour ago
- Times
Rishabh Pant injury and late Ben Stokes strike pull England back into Test
Rishabh Pant is a cricketer who, on any given day, gets tongues wagging. In this series he has scored twin hundreds; has cartwheeled in celebration; has thrown his bat skywards when attempting a slog over the leg side; was run out at a critical juncture of the Lord's Test and here in Manchester his role was of the walk-on, carried-off variety only, but still of central importance given what happened. Having made 37, Pant was in the process of gaining control for India during the final session in partnership with the willowy left-hander Sai Sudharsan. The usual whacky combination of dutiful defence and outrageous stroke play — with not much in between — had been fully in evidence when, attempting a reverse-sweep to Chris Woakes in the 68th over, he took a full toss on the outstep of his right foot and was forced to retire hurt.