Ball that hit cricketer Phil Hughes at SCG would have felt like bullet, says expert Officials from St Vincent's Hospital provide an update on the condition of Phil Hughes. PHILLIP Hughes would have felt as if he had been hit by a bullet, an expert says. Harder than a rock, the cricket ball weighing roughly 160 grams was travelling at 85km/h or more when it struck him behind his left ear. "The ball is small so the ­actual pressure is like a bullet effect," said Dr Edouard Ferdinands of Sydney University, a world expert in cricket biomechanics. People think it's only a ball - that's an illusion. Where he was hit is the spot where there is some ­crucial brain matter. He said batsmen were vulnerable to short-pitched deliveries because even state-of-the-art modern helmets only partly covered the head. "There are weak spots even in the helmet itself," said Dr Ferdinands. There is a chance for the ball to get through the grille - there have certainly been incidents there. Also, where the ball hit Phil Hughes, the helmets don't extend that far down. Maybe there needs to be extra padding that extends down ­towards the neck. That might be something that needs to be addressed. Other experts said that the injuries caused by a cricket ball can be the same as those suffered in a high-speed car crash, skydiving, or in horror ski ­accidents such as that suffered by former F1 champ Michael Schumacher. Sports doctor Dr Peter ­Larkins said a ­direct blow anywhere to the skull had the potential to cause the most ­serious injuries. "It doesn't matter if it is a skiing accident like Schumacher's, or football, motorcycling, parachuting or falling off a horse - it is why we wear helmets," he said. Phillip Hughes is struck on the head by that fateful ball during the Sheffield Shield match at the SCG. The brain comes right down to the upper part of your neck, so when you get a fracture with bleeding underneath it can cause enormous pressure to build up in the spinal canal and go up into the brain. "The danger to Phil Hughes would be a combination of bleeding into the upper part of the spinal cord from the fracture," he said. The reason he needs ventilating in the induced coma is to reduce the oxygen requirements to his brain, and therefore he has more chance of avoiding brain damage. Dr Larkin said the force of a blow from a cricket ball could cause an immediate concussion, combined with the internal damage that could create an immediate reaction in the lining of the brain and bleeding within seconds. This would result in placing increased pressure on the brain and lead to a person falling to the ground shortly after the impact. West Indian cricketing great Brian Lara was infamously struck by Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar in a near-identical part of the head during a Champions Trophy match in 2004. The 148km/h thunderbolt careened into Lara after he attempted a pull shot, like the one Phil Hughes tried to play, and ended up on the pitch clutching his head. Unlike Hughes, Lara ­regained consciousness and staggered off the field. Helmets have improved in strength and visibility since they became popular worldwide in the 1970s. Modern helmets feature a carbon fibre shell - but no matter how costly, they do not cover all the head. Originally published as "Ball would have felt like a bullet"