Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland has warned it was too early to say which players would be mentally ready for the rescheduled Test series against India next week following Phillip Hughes’s death.
The opening clash between the teams was to start on Thursday at the Gabba in Brisbane but was put off following Hughes’s on-field accident last week, with fellow players emotionally shattered, some more than others.
Australia’s four-Test series will begin now in Adelaide on December 9, with Brisbane to follow, then Melbourne and Sydney.
“There is nothing perfect about what we have come up with here but we appreciate everyone’s support and understanding in these tragic and extraordinary circumstances,” Sutherland said ahead of Hughes’s funeral in the player’s home town of Macksville, New South Wales, today, with Michael Clarke, the Australia Test captain, to be one of the pallbearers.
Hughes died last Thursday from bleeding on the brain, two days after being knocked unconscious by a bouncer while batting during a domestic match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, throwing the cricketing world into mourning.
With his funeral today, Cricket Australia late Monday amended the Test dates after lengthy talks with the Board of Control for Cricket in India and other stakeholders.
Whether the players will be ready for the Adelaide Test remains to be seen.
David Warner, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin and Nathan Lyon were all on the field when Hughes was hit while Clarke was a close friend and his emotions have been raw.
“Any player that is not comfortable or doesn’t feel right, or there is medical advice to suggest they’re not quite right, then we will obviously understand that,” Sutherland said.
“Understand that we and the Australian Cricketers’ Association will be supporting them and nobody will think ill of anyone who feels uncomfortable about it.”
Veteran bowler Ryan Harris said he was not sure whether he would take the field in Adelaide.
“I am still thinking about it, I’m not sure,” he said, but added that returning to cricket helped him when he lost his mother to lung cancer in 2006.
“Every individual is different. I have lost my mother before and I was pushed to play for my father and my brother and it probably helped.”
The tragedy has deeply shaken the world cricket community, particularly in Australia where the sport is considered the national game. Flags have been flown at half mast and bats left outside front doors as a mark of respect.
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