A centimetre can often be the difference between winning and losing a game of cricket, but in the case of Mitchell Dinneen, it actually saved his life.
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Memories of the tragic death of Phil Hughes were still raw in February this year when the Wodonga teenager was hit in the back of the head while fielding for Belvoir at short mid-wicket.
Fifteen-year-old Mitchell made the instinctive decision to turn away when the batsman cracked a shot directly at him.
The ball struck him low in the head, in the same area as Hughes was hit, just a centimetre higher than the Australian cricketer.
Both cricketers suffered fractured skulls but in Hughes’ case, the ball also compressed his vertebral artery and caused bleeding on the brain.
Mitchell knows how lucky he was to avoid surgery but now, all he wants to do is make a return to the game he loves.
Just six months after the incident, doctors at the Royal Children’s Hospital have given him the OK to return to playing cricket and he has made no delay in jumping straight into batting in the nets – even though there were a few nerves.
“I thought about it a lot before, but once it happened it was pretty good,” Mitchell said.
He was left disappointed when his doctor ruled out contact sports like football for 12 months while he recovered, so news he could play cricket again was extra exciting for the teenager.
Mitchell has now been training confidently and is ready to get back into competitive cricket in a few weeks.
“I never thought I'd get hit in the head,” he said.
“You don't really think of it happening when you bat.”
An ongoing reminder of the blow is still there in the form of a lump on the back of his head, which does not hurt or cause any issues.
Mitchell’s memories of the incident are also not too bad because the pain medication worked quickly, so his family had to let him know how close he came to serious injury.
His mum Nadia was watching the game when she heard the loud cracking of her son’s skull being hit by the cricket ball.
It was just three months earlier that Australian cricket went into mourning when Hughes died after he was struck while playing for NSW.
The tragedy of seeing what Hughes’ family went through after his death has not been lost on Mrs Dinneen.
“It was still so raw,” she said.
“It rocked the local cricket and everyone and obviously Mitch realises how lucky he was.
“He was a big fan of Phil Hughes."
Mrs Dinneen said it would be hard watching Mitchell face cricket balls again but she is looking forward to seeing him back and enjoying the game.
“It's not just like what happened to Hughesy … It was a freaky accident,” she said.
“I'm not ready for football, but I'm OK with cricket.”
