Cricket ball kills umpire in Israel.

A cricket umpire has died in the
Israeli city of Ashdod after being hit by
a ball, police say.
Hillel Oscar, 55, was taken to hospital
on Saturday in the nearby town of
Ashkelon in critical condition where
he died of his injuries, police said.
Oscar was also a former captain of
Israel’s national cricket team.
“We’re simply in shock,” said Naor
Gudker, the head of Israel Cricket
Association.
One of the players, who witnessed the
incident, told the Nana10 website that
the umpire, standing at the bowler’s
end, was struck by the ball in his face
after it ricocheted off the stumps from
a shot that came straight back down
the pitch.
Police said they were investigating
his death.
“We know a ball was hit in his
direction, he tried to escape it, he fell
– what happened there is still being
investigated,” Gudker told the AFP
news agency.
“The entire Israel Cricket Association
and players bow their heads in his
memory. He was a wonderful man,
cricketer, and umpire,” Gudker said.
The death came two days after
Australian batsman Phillip Hughes
died in hospital after being struck by a
ball during a domestic first-class
match in Sydney.
Cricket is not a major sport in Israel
but Ashdod is one of the main centres
for the sport where a large number of
Jewish immigrants from India live.