Nottinghamshire have not placed any timescale on Luke Fletcher’s return as he recovers from the chilling incident which saw him hit on the head against Birmingham Bears.

The seamer was struck on the skull when Sam Hain drilled the ball back at him after Fletcher bowled his first ball of the match.

Players from both teams were visibly upset and the match was suspended for 30 minutes before Notts were beaten on the final ball.

Fletcher suffered a concussion, but has since been discharged from hospital and is recovering at home.

Director of cricket Mick Newell says the club will follow medical advice and consider the potential psychological damage the 28-year-old may have suffered.

Luke Fletcher was taken to hospital after being led from the field
Luke Fletcher was taken to hospital after being led from the field

“He’s fine. He’s resting up at home,” Newell said.

“The physio (James Pipe) will be in regular contact with him and he’ll have further appointments this week to keep an eye on him.

“We’ll see what the recommendations are. It’s pretty unique. Normally you have batsmen getting hit when they have a helmet to protect them.

“Until he sees the doctors later this week we won’t know about when he’ll play again. We’ve not got a game for a while so we've not given a huge amount of thought to it.

“We’ll leave that with the doctors. Until Fletch bowls again he won’t know how he’s feeling with regards to the incident itself.

“The main thing is to take the advice from the doctors.”

Newell says he has never seen an incident where a bowler has been hit in the head during his follow through.

Given the incident's unique nature, the England selector feels there is unlikely to be any further action that can be taken to prevent a prevent a repeat.

He feels some degree of risk inevitable and the incident, while shocking, could have been far worse for the popular seamer.

“I’ve seen Charlie Shreck break his leg in a T20 game when the ball was hit back at him. I’ve never seen a bowler hit on the head so that was scary for everyone,” he said.

“His head was down because of his follow through. If his head had been up we don’t know if he’d been able to react.

“It could have been a lot worse to be honest.

“I don’t think there’s a huge amount you can do in terms of protecting bowlers.

“Umpires were protective gear but what more can you do for bowlers so they can still bowl? I’m sure there will be some debate though.”

Notts have lost both their matches in the T20 Blast, but have until Friday July 21 to recharge their batteries before a game against Derbyshire Falcons at Trent Bridge.