New sledging claims appear at Hughes inquest

Sledging directed at Phillip Hughes and his batting partner Tom Cooper “in no way exacerbated the incident” in which Hughes was fatally injured, the inquest into the batsman’s death has been told.

The conclusion by Kristina Stern SC, the counsel assisting the New South Wales Coroner at the inquest, was made after the submission of a new statement by Matthew Day, the former Tasmania batsman and a Sydney club teammate of Hughes’ brother Jason Hughes at Mosman. Day, 29, was also a pallbearer at Hughes’ funeral in Macksville.

Day’s statement corroborated allegations that the fast bowler Doug Bollinger had directed the words “I’m going to kill you” at Hughes and Cooper, highlighting divisions between the Hughes family and the cricket community.

Bollinger and Cooper had both denied these words were uttered, moving Day to make the statement on Tuesday. In it he described events at a wake for Hughes, which occurred at the SCG on November 28, the evening after he died at St Vincent’s Hospital.

“Whilst I was at the gathering at the Sydney Cricket Ground, I was with a group of players sitting where the players’ seats are in the home dressing room,” Day said in the statement, dated October 11, 2016. “There were six or seven players in the group. I can’t remember all of the players but Doug Bollinger was one of the group. There was general discussion regarding the circumstances of the match.

“At one stage Doug Bollinger said words to …

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