Phil Hughes dead: TV footage reveals cricket ball missed Hughes' helmet and hit him on side of head

Hughes has been placed in a medically induced coma after suffering a serious head injury during the Sheffield Shield match in Australia

Hughes is hit by a bouncer from Sean Abbott (Getty Images)

Australian batsman Phil Hughes is in a critical condition after he was struck on the head by a cricket ball during a Sheffield Shield match between South Australia and New South Wales.

Hughes had made 63 for South Australia, but when he attempt to pull a Sean Abbott bouncer he missed the ball and was hit on the side of the head just below the helmet he was wearing.

The Australian opener, who had been tipped with a return to the national team, staggered after the impact when it became apparent that he had been hurt by the blow. Hughes then collapsed face-first to the floor, with both the players and umpires rushing to his aid.

The 25-year-old received immediate attention and needed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation as well as oxygen pitch-side, before being stretched to an air ambulance that landed on the Sydney Cricket Ground pitch that airlifted him to the nearby St Vincent’s Hospital.

Questions immediately arose as to how Hughes had been hurt given that he was wearing a helmet at the time, but the video below reveals that the ball just missed the side of it, causing a serious impact the lower-left side of his head.

**Warning - the video below contains graphic material**

Spokesman David Faktor confirmed outside St Vincent’s that Hughes had been placed in an induced coma and had indergone surgery.

"He's in ICU now, they've finished the surgery's but he's still in a critical condition. Now they'll just monitor him,” Faktor told cricketaustralia.com.au.