Aussie cricket star nearly cooked by sideline ‘flamethrower’

It’s a given that booze and firearms probably aren’t a good mix, right?

But cricket — the sport, not the insect — and pyrotechnics? Who knew that could be a dangerous combo?

Well, apparently Cricket Australia had no clue it wasn’t a great idea to combine their sport with open flames. But, after nearly killing off one of their star players Friday night, the governing body for cricket Down Under is re-thinking the idea of using flamethrowers at matches.

Aussie captain Aaron Flinch was nearly cooked when he went to retrieve a ball that had gone out of bounds during a Twenty20 match against South Africa. He ventured near one of said flamethrowers and, whoosh, was nearly flambeed.
blogs.canoe.ca

(Just as a side note, did you happen to catch the Aussie team’s sponsor? Yep, it was KFC. Ironic, no? Kinda made me giggle, too, but only because Mr. Finch wasn’t harmed in any way.)
So, apparently, the incident has cause Cricket Australia to cancel the use of open flames at matches “until such time as we’re satisfied that there won’t be a repeat incident,” the organization’s Mike McKenna told AFP. Finch was also issued an apology for nearly being cooked.
But the incident begs the question: Who thought flamethrowers next to a sports field — and they are incredibly close — was a good idea in the first place? And who has their finger on the big-flames-now button?