SYDNEY // Cricket Australia officials were keen to stress that on-field matters will take a back seat as the governing body attempts to help its players mourn batsman Phillip Hughes.
Australia are scheduled to begin the first of four Tests against India next Thursday but the clash in Brisbane has been cast into doubt following the death of Hughes on Thursday.
Hughes, who would have turned 26 on Sunday, died of the injuries he sustained two days after being struck in the head by a bouncer while batting for South Australia against New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
His death has shocked cricket, and Cricket Australia understandably wants to avoid rushing into a decision over whether the national team will be able take to the field at the Gabba next week.
“Cricket will go on and it will go on when we’re ready,” chief executive James Sutherland said.
“We haven’t broached that subject with the players yet. We will in time, but to be honest they’ve got other things on their minds.
“I know for many people seven days doesn’t seem too far away, but in other ways it’s a million miles away. We’ll get there when we can.
“He [Hughes] would want nothing more than for the game to continue, but as I said before, the game will continue at Test level, when we’re ready.”
Pat Howard, Cricket Australia’s executive general manager of team performance, echoed Sutherland’s sentiments.
Howard confirmed the Test team had travelled to the SCG to grieve for Hughes and stressed that the focus is on the individuals, for the time being, rather than cricket.
“We’re not going to talk about the first Test, we know it’s there,” he said. “What we’re focused on is today.
“We’ve brought the whole team in, the whole Australian Test team are here. Today’s about grieving.
“In regards to anything we do, we need to make sure the players are in a position where they can make strong choices and that’s not now, that’s not this time.
“We’ll do whatever we can, whatever the players need, to deal and cope with this, we’ll do whatever we can to help and support the Hughes family.
“We’re going to focus on people first rather than the cricket.”
Sutherland said Sean Abbott, the bowler who struck Hughes in the domestic match on Tuesday, is coping “really well”.
While there has been an outpouring of grief following Hughes’s death, Abbott has been consoled by former and current professionals and fans alike.
But Sutherland, who spoke to Abbott on Thursday, said: “It’s been fantastic the way people have shown concern for Sean. Sean is holding up really well, I’m incredibly impressed by the way he’s holding himself and his maturity.
“It’s a grieving process that will affect people in different ways. Right now, he’s holding up really well and I’m incredibly impressed with him.”
Hughes, who was wearing a protective helmet, was hit by a ball on the back, lower left side of his head from Abbott as he attempted a pull shot on Tuesday. The batsman never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead on Thursday.
India’s two-day match against a Cricket Australia XI, which was to start on Friday, was cancelled and Sutherland has thanked the tourists for their support and understanding.
“We’ve been in constant contact with the officials from the Indian cricket board and I’ve got to say that their understanding and empathy has been absolutely outstanding,” he said.
“They completely understand the situation. They’re doing everything they can to do that.
“They’ll prepare themselves in the best way possible. They understand that these are unique and extraordinary circumstances and I guess if the Test match goes ahead, both teams will have a very different sort of preparation.”
Sri Lanka and England should carry on, says Alastair Cook
COLOMBO // Sri Lanka and England have decided the best way they can pay their respects to Hughes is to play cricket.
The tourists’ captain Alastair Cook confirmed significant discussions took place over whether to postpone Saturday’s second one-day international at the Premadasa Stadium.
Following Hughes’s death on Thursday, there was an evident case for putting the series here on hold.
It fell to Cook to speak publicly for the first time since Hughes passed away yesterday and he said: “All our thoughts are with Hughesy’s family and obviously those Australian players who knew him so well.”
Asked if his own players, and Sri Lanka’s, can possibly play with the intensity appropriate for an international match in such shocking circumstances, Cook conceded perhaps not.
“I know discussions went on about whether we should be playing, and I think both sides agreed that, out of respect, we should carry on – try to pay our respects in the right way for Phil, and try to put on a good show,” he said.
Cook knows he must try to put the tragic events of the week out of his mind when batting and he will not be asking his pace bowlers to water down their tactics.
“If you’re going to play a game, you’ve got to do it properly,” he said. “It is a real reminder how dangerous it can be. In our dressing room, we’ve been talking about that over the last 48 hours.
“This doesn’t happen very often at all. I certainly wouldn’t change the way I play.
“It’s a natural thing. You cannot have those doubts at the back of your mind when you walk out to bat, because you won’t be playing very well.”
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