As Shane Warne led a flood of support from Australian cricketing greats for injured batsman Phillip Hughes, West Indies legend Brian Lara said the injury would have a significant effect on the psyche of bowlers around the world, but didn't believe the bouncer should be eradicated from the sport.
Hughes, 25, is fighting for his life after being struck by a bouncer from NSW all-rounder Sean Abbott during the second session of South Australia's Sheffield Shield match at the SCG yesterday.
Warne, who is currently in London, said the critical injury had rocked the wider cricket family.
"It's a tough situation for everyone," Warne told Australian radio station Triple M.
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"It's one of those terrible freak accidents."
However, the batsman's injury was not the result of poorly designed helmets, he said.
"You just think about how many lives the helmet has saved over the years - this is just one of those things."
It was easy to forget the dangers of competitive cricket given how effortless the skilful players made it look, Warne explained.
"But I promise you ... You know when you go out there you could get hit in the head," he said.
"(And even) when you play in the backyard with little Johnny ... it hurts."
Lara, meanwhile, spoke of the effect the incident would have on bowlers around the cricketing world.
"It will have a serious effect," he said.
"No bowler wants to be in that situation. You want to be able to go out there and give your full compliment of deliveries and test the batsman in all sorts of different ways, but that sort of end result is not what you aim for.
"[Abbott] will be utterly devastated and not in a very good frame of mind. I think it was a very good decision to abandon the game and everyone can try and recover emotionally and psychologically."
Lara, who described the incident as "very unfortunate", believed the ICC had always had the safety of players in the forefront of their decisions.
He admitted cricket was a dangerous sport but said that eradicating the short ball would take away from the essence of the game.
"It's part of the game and they've done their best over the years to curb it and manage it as much as possible. It's part of the armoury of a fast bowler and it's very hard to take that totally away from him. There are some batsmen who feed off that sort of attack and I don't believe it's something that should affect the fast bowlers and the rules governing that.
"It's a sport and you're always going to have that element of risk. This is an unfortunate and rare situation. I suppose the authorities will be a little bit worried about something like this, how it happened and if it will ever happen again. I felt pretty safe playing. I knew the element of risk. A little prayer in the morning and hope for the best. I've been struck down a couple of times - Shoaib Akhtar and Glenn McGrath - but fortunately for me it hasn't been at this level."
Lara's view found support from ex-Australian test player Matthew Hayden who also said the shocking incident shouldn't spell the end for the bouncer.
"If you take that away from the game, it takes away that combative nature of cricket," Hayden said.
He said professional players had to resign themselves to the inherent dangers of sport.
"That's why mum when she stands in the backyard is fretting every time.
"She knows that it's something that's going to be broken, she just hopes it's not a little boy or a little girl."
Australian legends Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath sent prayers and well wishes to both Hughes and Abbott on Twitter.
"Dear Lord, if (there was) ever the need for footprints in the sand, it's now," Gilchrist tweeted.
Australia skipper Michael Clarke is back at Hughes' bedside after returning to Sydney's St Vincent Hospital early this morning.
AAP, Sydney Morning Herald
