As cricket coach Hamish Reynolds perfects the bat swings of his under-11s team at St Leonards on Friday, a larger issue looms.

Reynolds is 19, two years older than Ben Austin, who died when a cricket ball struck his neck while practising at his local nets at Melbourne’s Ferntree Gully on Tuesday night.

“My first thought was, am I making sure that I’m practising safely enough? That my kids wear their helmets, gloves and pads?”

Reynolds does not believe what happened to Austin was a freak accident.

“The news highlights it could happen to anyone,” he said. “These things shouldn’t be happening [and] should be recognised by the wider community.”

His brother, Tim Reynolds, 25, said: “To think that could happen to one of our kids scares the hell out of me.

“For us as coaches, it’s about h

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