The Australian cricket community and the family of Phillip Hughes must wait until next month to learn whether recommendations from the inquest into the late batsman's untimely death will change the sport.
The inquest has heard graphic and emotive evidence from players, officials and authorities present when Hughes was fatally struck by a short-pitched delivery from NSW bowler Sean Abbott during a Sheffield Shield match in November 2014.
The inquiry has deepened a rift between the former Test batsman's family and those summoned to the witness box, with claims of threatening sledges, cover-ups and a slack emergency response.
Earlier, counsel assisting the inquiry Kristina Stern SC advised the coroner to not make any recommendations about sledging, or the nature of play leading up to Hughes being fatally struck by a ball.
She said "the risks to Phillip were not exacerbated by any such matters" and declared the death an accident.
Members of Hughes' family attending the hearing appeared distressed as Ms Stern made the comments.
Ms Stern also told the inquest that Cricket Australia should continue researching into neck protectors or stem guards for players.
Greg and Virginia Hughes walked out after Cricket Australia's lawyer Bruce Hodgkinson SC submitted that all player testimony had been honest.
And Hughes family barrister Greg Melick SC denied Ms Stern's assertions the bowling style did not exacerbate the accident.
He said the Hughes family believed sustained short-pitched bowling had "increased the risk of injury to Phillip".
He said the family also believed sledging still occurred, and the fact that every player who testified denied anything was said "must cast serious doubts over other evidence".
Mr Melick said the family acknowledged that short-pitched bowling was a "legitimate tactic" but that nine short balls in a row went "too far".
Expert umpires and players had earlier testified that the bowling directed towards Hughes that day had been competitive, but fair.
Physiotherapist and Cricket Australia sports medicine manager Alex Kountouris, who completed his PhD on injuries in cricket, said extensive research had uncovered only one other case of a cricketer being killed by the vertebral artery being severed.
That death happened in Melbourne in 1993.
Mr Kountouris was asked if in preparing his report for the inquest, he was aware of concerns raised by Hughes' family about the passage of play leading up to his injury.
"Absolutely not," he said.
The Hughes family, who were in the courtroom, shook their heads and gasped.
Greg Hughes, the cricketer's father, was heard to say: "Lying, lying."
Mr Kountouris said a month after the batsman was fatally injured, the rules were changed to allow team doctors and team physiotherapists to carry mobile phones onto the playing area.
He agreed it would be a good idea for players and umpires to be trained in the use of hand signals to indicate when an ambulance was needed, and for umpires to be issued with two-way radios.
"It was immediately apparent to those around Phillip Hughes that this was a serious injury and that he had lost consciousness," counsel assisting Kristina Stern SC said.
"That information could have been communicated in a matter of seconds if the umpires had had a two-way radio."
Mr Kountouris replied: "Yes."
The inquest has heard expert medical evidence from Professor Brian Owler that the blood supply to the brain was compromised from the moment the ball struck the player's neck and that no medical intervention, no matter how early, could have avoided Hughes' death.
Mr Kountouris told the inquest Cricket Australia now recommended that players wore helmets complying with the highest and most recent safety standard, the British standard.
It also recommends that players wear neck protectors attached to the helmets.
NSW Coroner Michael Barnes will release on November 4 his recommendations, which are expected to canvass protective equipment, playing conditions and emergency management.
