WERE the death of Phil Hughes not such a tragedy, Steve Harmison would be entitled to say: "I told you he couldn't play the short ball."

The former Durham paceman quickly worked that out when playing for England Lions against the Australians at Worcester in 2009, a match which also featured Graham Onions.

Hughes had played three championship matches for Middlesex at the start of that summer, plundering 574 runs at an average of 143.5.

But fears that he would continue his prolific scoring against England in the Ashes series receded when facing Harmison proved a big step up from second division county cricket.

The Durham man had him caught off short balls for single figures in both innings and let it be known that he felt he had uncovered a major weakness.

When such perceptions are levelled at batsmen they tend to be targeted, underlining that there is no mercy in professional sport. It happened to Jonathan Trott when he began his comeback last summer.

The death of Hughes will not change that because, as in all sport when tragedy occurs, the show must go on. Safety precautions might be increased, but intimidatory bowling is already subject to limitations and to ban it would tilt the balance too far in the batsman's favour.

Improved helmet design will doubtless come under consideration, but initial thoughts seem to be that extending the protection at the back, where Hughes was struck, would be impractical.

Hughes appeared to have overcome his weakness and impressed Durham sufficiently for them to approach him twice about the possibility of playing for them.

The second occasion was after he scored a century for Worcestershire at Chester-le-Street in 2012. After struggling that season Durham felt they needed someone to replace Michael Di Venuto's runs at the top of the order, but as finances worsened they decided they couldn't afford an overseas man.

Hughes also made 87 in a total of 205 against Durham on a tricky pitch at Worcester early in the 2012 season. His passing has robbed the game of a wonderful talent, but deaths in cricket are rarer than suicides among recently retired players, which says much about the joy of involvement. That's why the show must go on.