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SCMP Reporter

A CRICKET fan is suing England ace Dermot Reeve for more than $2.5 million after she was left partially blind when a ball smacked her in the face last year as she watched a pre-match warm-up.

Marianne Hasell, 32, suffered a fractured skull, a grazed cornea and a detached retina when the Warwickshire captain missed a fast throw by teammate Jonathon Garden.

The accident happened as Mrs Hasell and husband Ian watched a New Year's Day match between the Hong Kong Cricket Association and Air India.

Association coach Reeve, who was wearing a baseball glove, was standing just metres from spectators at the Hong Kong Cricket Club as teammates pitched balls at him during fielding practice.

In a High Court writ, Mrs Hasell said her friend Helen Fulton asked the cricketers to move away, fearing her daughters Jenny, 10, and Kate, 12, could get hit.

But Reeve, 32, England's most successful county captain in the past three years, allegedly ignored her request.

 Minutes later, Mrs Hasell was hit full in the face when he missed a fast-paced ball.

Photos taken after the accident on January 1, 1994, show extensive deep purple and yellow bruising around both eyes and bleeding in the left eye.

Mrs Hasell, a former executive secretary who spent two weeks in hospital, was off work for more than 21 months.

She has lost a third of the vision in her left eye, which is now noticeably smaller than the right.

Mrs Hasell, who used to earn $17,000 a month, only returned to work this month.

But her salary has dropped by $6,500 because she can no longer type and has trouble reading.

Mrs Hasell is suing Reeve, Garden and the Hong Kong Cricket Association for negligence.

Damages for loss of earnings, injuries and medical expenses could come to $2.59 million.

She claims Reeve should have realised he was putting spectators at risk by standing so close to them and that someone might get hit if he missed a catch.

Reeve, who grew up in Hong Kong, arrived in the territory on Sunday for the Cathay Pacific/Wharf Holdings Invitational Sixes.

Lawyers expect to serve the writ on Reeve this week. Last night, the cricketer refused to comment on the matter.

Reeve skippered England to victory in the past two Sixes and hopes to make it a hat trick this weekend.

Garden, who worked for a shipping company while in Hong Kong, is understood to have returned to London.



Cricket spectator sues England ace