Several flaws in the emergency response to Phillip Hughes being struck by a cricket ball could have had serious consequences if his injuries had not been so immediately "unsurvivable", a coroner has found.  An inquest into Hughes' death heard umpires and players on the field did not know how to summon medical assistance when the 25-year-old was struck by a Sean Abbott delivery during a November 2014 Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.  In delivering his findings on Friday, NSW Coroner Michael Barnes outlined eight concerns with the response, including that it was not clear whose responsibility it was to call the ambulance.  The court heard it took more than six minutes for the first person to call triple zero and that the caller did not have the appropriate information about Hughes' condition.  It also heard conflicting information was given to the ambulance service about accessing Hughes and important medical equipment was not immediately available.  "The expert medical evidence indicated that Phillip's death could not have been saved by a better response to his being injured," Mr Barnes said at Glebe Coroner's Court.  "However ... (cricketing bodies) recognised that in other circumstances a life could unnecessarily be lost if the emergency procedures were not improved."  Mr Barnes acknowledged that Cricket Australia, Cricket NSW and the SCG Trust had made numerous improvements to their policies since Hughes' death.  But he said there were still some things that could be changed to reduce the likelihood of further fatalities.  He recommended the Trust and Cricket NSW review policy governing medical briefings and consider mandating that a single-page document be created at the start of each day outlining which staff are responsible for key emergency functions.  Mr Barnes said he didn't think it was necessary that match officials be given further training in view of extra expert medical resources being dedicated to first class matches.  But he did recommend the training of umpires be reviewed so that they could ensure medical assistance was summoned "effectively and expeditiously".
A coroner has found there were several problems with the response to South Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes' fatal on-field injury.