A young Australian cricketer, who was playing for Clayton West Cricket Club at Huddersfield in England, has lost speaking power after his skull was fractured in an apparently unprovoked attack outside a nightclub.
The 26-year-old Chris Thomson, from Perth, who was on a night out with other players after a match, came under attack while leaving the club.
He was punched on the face and hit his head on the ground during the bashing in Leeds early on Sunday morning.
An ambulance took him to Leeds General Infirmary and he was later moved into the high dependency unit, 'Daily Telegraph' reported on Friday.
"He's got a fracture to the back of his skull which goes to the top of the spine. He's got no speech whatsoever at the moment. It's despicable. It was a mindless attack. From what we can understand there wasn't an argument inside the club or anything, it was just a complete random attack," Clayton West CC chairman Simon Thornhill was quoted as saying in the daily.
Thomson's mother flew from Australia and was greeted on arrival with the positive news that her son had been moved to the general ward after showing signs of recovering.
He was due to return to Australia after the English summer but now will not be able to travel for up to a year.
West Yorkshire police have released security camera footage of a man wanted in connection to the attack.
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