The claim by Phil Hughes’s family that Australian fast bowler Doug Bollinger said “I’m going to kill you” in the match in which the batsman died have been backed up by another source.
In a statement, Matthew Day, a former under-age state team-mate of Hughes, recalled a conversation in the days after the Australia international’s death in which he says Bollinger repeated the alleged sledge.
Hughes’s family had already made public the comment on the opening day of an inquest into his death, while Hughes’s batting partner during the tragic match nearly two years ago, Tom Cooper, insisted the words had never been uttered.
Day said in a statement: “While I was at the gathering at Sydney Cricket Ground, I was with a group of players sitting where the players’ seat areas are in the home dressing room.
“There were six or seven players in the group. I can’t remember all of the players but Doug Bollinger was one of the group. There was general discussion regarding the circumstances of the match.
“At one stage, Doug Bollinger said words to the effect of: ‘one of my sledges was I am going to kill you. I can’t believe I said that. I’ve said things like that in the past but I am never going to say it again’.”
Day says he relayed the conversation to Hughes’s brother, Jason, who told him in reply “words to the effect of, ‘Tom Cooper told me the same’.”
In a statement, Sean Abbott, whose delivery fatally injured Hughes during the match in November 2014, recalled his memories of the day.
Abbott insisted there had not been any sledging towards Hughes.
“I do not recall hearing or seeing any backchat or chatting with the batsmen,” he said. “I cannot recall any sledging that day nor do I recall any complaints being made.”
