Promising Worcestershire cricket star Parvaz Mirza, aged 24, was a right-arm fast bowler considered one of the best players in his county.  He died suddenly one night in 1995 at home in his mothers arms, shortly after having his medical check up.  Sadly this did not include the heart screening which could have saved his life.

Accurate statistics are not available but experts believe that up to 8 young (under 35) apparently fit and healthy people are dying each week in the UK from undiagnosed heart conditions.

Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) is a national charity, established in 1995 to deal exclusively with sudden young cardiac death.

These deaths are invariably shocking because of the age and apparent good health of the individual.  Symptoms are breathlessness, palpitations, dizziness, fainting and chest pain ( exercise related).  Most importantly, a crucial 'trigger' is if there has been a sudden unaccountable young death in the family..  These conditions are usually genetic, and testing of first degree relatives is critical to ensure other family members are not at risk.  Sudden young cardiac death can sometimes mistakenly be attributed to epilepsy, asthma, drowning or accident.

CRY believes all people involved in sport should have cardiac evaluation and has instigated its own pro-active screening programme recently launching the CRY Centre for Sports Cardiology (based at the British Olympic Medical Centre) for sports people of all ages and standards.  Many countries have introduced cardiac screening for their sports men and women and CRY would like to see the same procedures adopted in the UK as are in place in Italy where it is mandatory that representative athletes of all ages have annual heart checks.  In the UK so far only some tennis and football associations have adopted a mandatory testing programme.

Wilf Slack (Middlesex and England) died suddenly, aged 34, in 1989.  Mikey Stewart, Manager of the England team in the 80's, recalls a Net Practice in Tasmania during the 1987 England tour of Australia when Wilf suddenly passed out whilst batting.  Mikey says 'one minute I looked and he was fine the next minute he had passed out and we had to rush him to hospital.  He was such a popular person and when he died his death hit everyone very hard.  There was no indication that what he was suffering from was life-threatening.  I am appalled appalled that there are no checks on those involved in arduous sport to confirm the cardiac health of the athlete.  Cardiac screening should be introduced in cricket as part of the general health inspection process.'  Middlesex introduced ECG testing in 1995 at players pre-season medicals, as a sensible part of their risk assessment.

Alex Edwards (left) was a promising young cricketer who dropped dead aged 12, during a school match, before he had been able to fulfill his cricketing aspirations.  He had been suffering from symptoms for some time before he died but these were dismissed by a number of doctors who were consulted.  His mother has now joined CRY's campaign for screening.

Testing is efficient and painless.  Ian Botham, Honorary President of the CRY Centre for Sports Cardiology says 'at the end of the day these deaths are indiscriminate.  They affect all sorts of people - amateur sportsmen, professional sportsmen, a guy playing on a pitch, a kid at a school sports day.  It is something that has been swept under the carpet for too long'.

Information on cardiac screening

CRY Centre for Sports Cardiology