Hilton Cartwright does unthinkable; leaves match for childbirth, later returns to lead WA to triumph

West Australian all-rounder Hilton Cartwright recently hogged the headlines for his antics in the Sheffield Shield match. He retired mid-innings during the match against Tasmania at the WACA Ground in Perth.

Hilton Cartwright caught the attention of many when he retired mid-innings after he was notified about the unexpected birth of his second child. The incident happened during the tea break on Day 2 of the match, and it saw the batter rushing to the hospital to be by his wife’s side.

Hilton Cartwright left the stadium when he was batting at 52. The right-hander looked in complete control of the innings but had to rush. However, after analyzing the situation and the birth of his child, he was back on the field playing for his team and made a valuable contribution

“My wife Tameka was only just 37 weeks pregnant" - Hilton Cartwright

While talking about his situation, Cartwright said that his wife, Tameka, was 37 weeks pregnant and was experiencing complications. He said that the ongoing game was never expected to be affected by the birth of his child.

“My wife Tameka was only just 37 weeks pregnant, so this match against Tassie was never meant to be affected by the birth of our second child, which is why I chose to play.”

I needed to leave the ground at the tea break in the hope of returning to the crease at a later point in the innings - Hilton Cartwright

Hilton Cartwright said that as soon as he became aware of the situation, he had conversations with the management and decided that he needed to leave the ground at the tea so that he could return later on. Speaking about the same, he explained:

“Tasmania was made aware of this situation during the innings break. Between myself, the coaches and (West Australian captain) Sam (Whiteman), we had a plan in place surrounding the time I needed to leave the ground at the tea break in the hope of returning to the crease at a later point in the innings.”

Hilton Cartwright ended with an inning of 65 runs that helped West Australia win the game by 6 wickets

Cartwright then was back to the ground and there were doubts about if Tasmania and the match referee would allow him to resume his innings. However, he was allowed to play as he walked out to bat after the dismissal of teammate Cooper Connolly.

However, he couldn't bat long in the second phase of his innings. His stay at the crease was cut short by Riley Meredith. The right-hander ended with an inning of 65 runs. But his innings ensured that the team reached a total of 332 runs in the first innings and then eventually won the game by 6 wickets. He played the vital innings of an unbeaten 39 in the 83-run chase.