The alleged sledge resurfaced on the second day of a coronial inquest after NSW bowler Doug Bollinger denied saying the words on Monday. 

"I know in my heart I didn't say that," Bollinger told the inquest. 

On Tuesday, South Australian batsman Tom Cooper described the play before Hughes was struck in the neck by a short ball and collapsed on November 25, 2014. Cooper said he was confident Hughes had not been sledged.

But Hughes' brother Jason has indicated, through the family's lawyer, that Cooper told him something different.

The pair had a beer together during a gathering at the Sydney Cricket Ground shortly after Hughes died of a brain haemorrhage, two days after the Sheffield Shield game.

Jason Hughes says Cooper told him about a sledge from Bollinger, directed to the South Australians, to the effect "I'm going to kill you" or "I'm going to kill youse".

The family's lawyer, Greg Melick, SC, asked whether Cooper could have told Jason Hughes that and since forgotten.  

"No," Cooper replied. 

He said Phillip Hughes never raised concerns about sledging or an opposition strategy of short balls, another concern raised by the family.

"He was scoring freely," Cooper said. He described Hughes as a "very relaxed" batsman in general, including when facing short deliveries or bouncers. 

Counsel assisting the inquest, Kristina Stern, SC asked whether Hughes was targeted in an "ungentlemanly way".

"I guess he was targeted," Cooper said. "I wouldn't say it was in an ungentlemanly way."

On Tuesday afternoon, Hughes' "close friend" and NSW opponent David Warner echoed the evidence of previous players when he appeared via videolink from South Africa. He said Hughes had looked "comfortable at the crease". He could recall no sledging.  

Warner had one exchange with Hughes on the field but said "it probably can't be repeated in this courtroom".

One of the umpires on the day, Ash Barrow, told the inquest it was "not unusual" for a batsman to face up to nine short balls in a row from one bowler. He had found no increased risk to the batsmen. Another umpire overseeing that game, Michael Graham-Smith, agreed.

Simon Taufel, a former training manager for the International Cricket Council who prepared an independent report on the incident, found no "dangerous or unfair" bowling. 

In medical evidence, the forensic pathologist who conducted Hughes' autopsy, Johan Duflou, said the internal injury was most commonly seen in "one-punch homicides".

The twisting movement of the player's head tore right through a vertebral artery and led to a brain haemorrhage.

"In the Sydney area, there are probably one to two cases a year," Professor Duflou told the coroner.

Neurosurgeon Brian Owler said guards to protect the neck area where Hughes was hit, such as the "stem guards" now worn by some players, may reduce the force of impact and therefore the likelihood of injury.

The inquest continues before coroner Michael Barnes.