Tributes have been coming from everywhere for Ben Austin aged 17, who has gone to the great beyond tragically after a training incident at the Ferntree Gully Cricket Club in Victoria, Australia on Wednesday.
Both teams are wearing black armbands today to pay their respects to 17-year-old Melbourne cricketer Ben Austin, who sadly passed away following an accident while batting in the nets on Tuesday night.#TeamIndia | #WomenInBlue | #CWC25 | #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/Qhn1B2DmsF
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) October 30, 2025
The local club of Ben in Melbourne was the scene of a violent incident where the young cricketer was hit by a ball during a nets session on Tuesday. It is reported that the ball was thrown from a machine. As a sincere tribute, both the Indian and Australian players in the Women’s World Cup semi-final wore black armbands in memory of Ben.
Ben’s father, Jace Austin, shared a touching statement on behalf of the family, “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. 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,” Jace said, as quoted by Wisden.
