‘Well played son’: Father’s heartbreaking tribute to Ben Austin at the cricket ground they loved

On a cricket field in Melbourne’s inner-south, about 1000 mourners gathered to mark the life of a cheeky teen from the Gully who lived and breathed the game.

The shock death of 17-year-old Ben Austin last month, after he was struck in the neck with a ball during cricket practice, has left the sport reeling – an accident likened to the death of Australian star cricketer Phillip Hughes.

On Thursday morning, as Alphaville’s Forever Young played, mourners filed into packed stands at Junction Oval, Cricket Victoria’s home in St Kilda, teens in their sports and school uniforms.

The field, which has hosted hundreds of Australian cricket greats, was a favourite spot for Ben and his sports-mad dad Jace.

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Ben’s love for the game was infectious, and it swept up everyone who knew him. He was the one cheering his teammates on when they were down in the final moments of a game, he was the laughter, the cheeky grin, the smart arse joke.

“He got that from me,” Jace said, smiling through tears as he remembered the warmth and kindness of his oldest son. “And he got that from his mum.”

Members of Ben’s two sport clubs – the Ferntree Gully cricket club and Waverley Park Hawks football club – joined his family on the green Thursday to lay signed jerseys on a small black and white coffin, piled high with yellow roses, and sporting medals.

Light rain began to fall as they shared stories of their Benny – the rising star rocketing through the ranks of southeastern junior cricket, the clever footy player, the dedicated young umpire.

When umbrellas went up, almost all were in the black and white of Ben’s favourite football team, Collingwood.

The club’s premiership cup even stood sentinel beside Ben’s cricket bat and footy, won in 2023 and on loan for the day as a special tribute by the AFL club.

Mourners filed into packed stands at Junction Oval to farewell junior cricketer Ben Austin.Credit: Ferntree Gully Cricket Club

Since Ben’s untimely death, cricketing greats across Australia and around the world have honoured him by wearing black armbands at matches.

Jace now wears his son’s cricket cap almost everywhere he goes. As they embraced the grieving father on the field this morning, some of those closest to the family touched the cap.

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“You didn’t just run, you bounced,” Jace said, speaking of his son’s bright 17 years of life. Ben was always running, so resting won’t come easy, Jace said, but he knew his son’s spirit would live on in his community, in his two little brothers Zach and Cooper and in the game he loved so much.

That love, more than his runs on the board, is now Ben’s legacy. “Well played, son,” said Jace.

Tracey laid a kiss on the coffin of her “miracle baby” as his friends carried it into the hearse for a final lap of honour around the oval.

Fourteen and not out, Ben is still that boy running onto a cricket field. And, for his club and his family, he’ll be there in every game to come.

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