Cricket has changed a lot over the past decade; when I was growing up in the Caribbean (where the sport is very popular) there wasn’t as much money invested into the game and there certainly wasn’t any cheerleaders.
Also, playing the game as a kid, we used tennis balls instead of the cork balls the professionals use because they’re literally as hard as a rock and no one wanted to get hit by it.
Unfortunately, one cheerleader from the Indian Premier League, found out just how hard the cork ball is after a batter deposited one into the stands right onto her head. Poor thing had to be escorted inside to seek some medical attention. She really should have been paying attention to the flight of the ball though.
Check the video out here:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqVVSsFpcDs?feature=player_embedded&w=640&h=360]
H/T to Deadspin for the video.