Cricket: Luke Fletcher suffers horror injury after being struck in head, discharged from hospital

Luke Fletcher suffered a sickening blow to the head in Nottinghamshire's Natwest T20 Blast game against the Birmingham Bears on Saturday evening, but has now been discharged from hospital.

Play in Notts' T20 Blast game against Birmingham at Edgbaston was suspended for more than half an hour when Fletcher was struck a sickening blow on the top of his head by a fierce shot from Sam Hain.

The popular Fletcher was bowling his very first ball in the televised match when he was struck at close range in his follow through and collapsed on the Edgbaston pitch to the clear distress of his team-mates and the Birmingham batsmen alike.

Samit Patel, a close friend of Fletcher, was particularly upset as was Michael Lumb, both players in tears as Fletcher was helped off the pitch by Notts physio James Pipe.

The good news was that Fletcher was able to walk off the pitch, with towels wrapped around his head, and he was taken straight to a Birmingham hospital while the players collected their thoughts.

Fletcher's Notts team-mate and England bowler Jake Ball posted a picture of Fletcher with his thumbs up on Twitter, saying: "Horrible injury to @fletcherluke but looks like he's doing well #legend."

Nottinghamshire CCC chief executive Lisa Pursehouse has issued the following statement on the incident.

It reads: "Luke Fletcher has been taken to hospital to assess the extent of the head injury sustained in the NatWest T20 Blast between the Birmingham Bears and the Notts Outlaws and an update on his condition will be communicated in due course.

"He was able to walk off the field of play and, after receiving treatment from the medical staff, it was recommended he go to hospital for a thorough check-up.

Cricket is particularly sensitive to head injuries since the terrible accident that led to the death of Australia's Philip Hughes when he was struck on the back of the head batting for South Australia against New South Wales in Sydney in 2014.

Horrible injury to @fletcherluke but looks like he's doing well off to hospital #legend pic.twitter.com/dXsdYsGSqW

— Jake Ball (@JakeBall) July 8, 2017

Really worried for our mate @fletcherluke feel sick with what has happened. Hope you ok mate x

— Brendan Taylor (@BrendanTaylor86) July 8, 2017

"Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club would like to thank Sky, the ECB, the Birmingham Bears staff and the Edgbaston crowd for the sympathy and understanding they showed in an extremely difficult situation.

"The heartfelt round of applause given to the team as they left the field before returning was very much appreciated by the players and management."

Fletcher thanked fans for their support and tweeted: "Thanks for the messages. Shame about the result.

"Congrats to the bears!! Time for a few paracetamol."

Fletcher's team-mate Brendan Taylor tweeted: "Really worried for our mate @fletcherluke feel sick with what has happened. Hope you ok mate x."

Play at Edgbaston re-commenced at 21.18 and no overs were lost.

Birmingham went on to win an incredible game by six wickets, with the game going down to the last ball.

Fletcher, 28, has spent the entirety of his career at Notts apart from brief loan spells at Surrey (2015) and Derbyshire (2016).