High Court delivers LBW (look before walking) ruling in Battersea Park cricket eye injury case

Battersea Park, London, where Phoebe Lewis was hit in the eye by a cricket ball
Battersea Park, London, where Phoebe Lewis was hit in the eye by a cricket ball
ALAMY

On a summer evening in 2014 a group of amateur cricketers were playing in a public park, watched by a few spectators on the boundary rope.

Walking past at the moment when a batsman heaved a delivery skywards were Phoebe Lewis and a companion.

“I suddenly heard a shout from the pitch and turned my head to the left and inclined it upwards,” Ms Lewis said. “At this point I was hit in my left eye by a cricket ball. The ball hit me square on the eyeball. I do not recall seeing it in time to even close my eye.”

The ball caused a serious injury, she said. Yesterday, six years later, the High Court was asked to rule on whether she should have