Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/423164
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 26 NOVEMBER 2014 Sport 23 Answers to the MaltaToday crossword will be published next Wednesday WEATHER: Cloudy with showers locally thundery at times VISIBILITY: Good except in some showers WIND: Mainly East to Southeast force 2 to 3 locally force 3 to 4 veering South to Southeast. May be gusty near thunderstorms. SEA: Generally slight SWELL: Negligible becoming low Easterly in east of area SEA TEMP: 21 °C A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 White to play and mate in four moves A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Last week's solution Sudoku rules are extremely easy: Fill all empty squares so that the numbers 1 to 9 appear once in each row, column and 9x9 box. PARTLY CLOUDY 20 º C / 14 º C UV INDEX: 3 Today's Weather Chess Sudoku Pursuits CRICKET Across 9. Remove from government ownership (13) 10. Partially opened flower (3) 11. Open air fire (7) 12. Search (4) 13. Family (4) 15. Relaxes (5) 17. Sandy shores (7) 19. Tiny branches (5) 21. Bashful (3) 23. Arm joint (5) 24. Place in order (7) 25. Weapon (5) 27. Small mountain (4) 28. Duct for smoke (4) 30. Envious (7) 32. Round bread roll (3) 33. Close mental application (13) Down 1. Prudent (9) 2. Pixie (5) 3. Stump (4) 4. Wife of a count (8) 5. Wirelesses (6) 6. Queue (4) 7. Armed resistance (9) 8. Broaden (5) 14. Melts (5) 16. Tale (5) 18. Vehicle for injured people (9) 20. Bony structures (9) 22. IOW town (8) 26. Rubber (6) 27. Acquired pattern of behaviour (5) 29. Enraged (5) 30. Bring bad luck (4) 31. Saturate (4) Nd5+ Kd6 Bg3+ e5 Bxe5+ Kxe5 Qf4# Hughes fights for his life Australia batsman Phil Hughes is fighting for his life in intensive care after being struck on the head by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield match ON Tuesday evening, Australia team doctor Peter Brukner has said there were likely to be no updates on the 25- year-old's condition until Wednesday, with Hughes in Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital on life support. Despite wearing a helmet, Hughes - batting for South Australia - collapsed face first onto the Sydney Cricket Ground pitch, having been hit on the head after missing a pull shot off New South Wales pace bowler Sean Ab- bott. Cricket Australia said on its official website that Hughes - well-known to English fans both internationally and domestically after spells with Hamp- shire, Middlesex and Worcestershire - had been "struck on the back, lower left side of the head". It said no blame could be attached to Abbott, a 22-year-old who made his Australia debut last month. "Phillip Hughes sustained a severe head injury while batting for South Australia at the SCG today," Brukner said in a statement. "Phillip was treated on the ground by Cricket NSW medical staff and transferred by Ambulance to St Vin- cent's Hospital. "He subsequently underwent sur- gery and remains in a critical condi- tion in the hospital's intensive care unit. "Unless there is any significant change there will be no further up- dates on his condition until tomor- row. "Phillip is receiving the best pos- sible medical care. The thoughts of his team-mates and the wider cricket community are with Phillip and his family and friends at this difficult time." The left-hander, on 63 at the time, put a hand on his knee after being struck before falling face first to the ground. Play in the game was imme- diately suspended and the match later abandoned entirely. He was then given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and oxygen on the boundary line after being carried off the pitch on a stretcher. Cricket Australia said that despite reports an air ambulance was re- quired, Hughes was taken to St Vin- cent's by ambulance. The South Australian Cricket Asso- ciation's high performance manager Tim Nielsen was in the crowd with Hughes' mother and sister and went to St Vincent's, along with Australia captain Michael Clarke. An injury to Clarke had led to talk of Hughes getting a recall for the forth- coming Test series against India. With 26 Test caps, Hughes' last appearance for Australia came in a one-day inter- national against Pakistan in October. Hughes memorably scored two hun- dreds in just his second Test match against South Africa, with his last five-day appearance coming against England at Lord's last summer. In the Test prior to that he scored 81 at Trent Bridge alongside Ashton Agar in a last-wicket stand that nearly produced a memorable win. Australia coach Darren Lehmann led the well wishers for Hughes, writ- ing on Twitter: "Our thoughts and prayers are with Phil and his family! He is a great fighter and a great young man!" Hughes' fellow Australia interna- tional David Warner was in the field when the incident occurred and he rode alongside Hughes when he was wheeled off the field on a medicab. He wrote on Twitter: "Thoughts are with my little mate Hughsy and his family. He is a fighter and a champion and he will get through this. Praying for you buddy." The incident will serve as a reminder to the dangers facing batsmen against fast bowlers, despite the protective equipment available. For now, though, all thoughts are un- derstandably with Hughes and Cricket Australia chief executive officer James Sutherland is keen to not only support the batsmen but all those involved in Tuesday's shocking incident. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Phil Hughes right now. We are also thinking of his family, team-mates and friends in the Australian cricket family," he said. "His welfare is our highest priority. We're also naturally concerned about all of those involved in today's game and will be giving them our utmost support." England captain Alastair Cook, speaking on the eve of the one-day series with Sri Lanka, said: "All our thoughts and prayers are with Phillip. We have guys who played with him from Worcester, Middlesex... And a quite a few of us have played against him. "It's a sad incident and I hope he can show the same fight he's shown his whole career." Phillip Hughes of South Australia is struck in the head by a delivery during day one of the Sheffi eld Shield match between New South Wales and South Australia