With players mourning tragic death of Hughes, match may be rescheduled
The first cricket Test between India and Australia is all set to be rescheduled as three of the senior cricketers in Shane Watson, David Warner and Brad Haddin are amongst those who have already said that they are not in perfect state of mind to return to competitive cricket.
According to a report in The Australian, the first Test scheduled to start at the Gabba on December 4, may now be squeezed between the second Test at Adelaide (December 12-16) and the third Test at Melbourne on 'Boxing Day' (December 26-30).
The report stated,"The players met at the SCG yesterday where they were addressed by Michael Clarke after the death of Phillip Hughes on Thursday. The Weekend Australian understands that the Test squad was unanimous in their decision not to play the game."
"Test players David Warner, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin and Nathan lyon were on the field when Hughes was struck and attended to him in the terrible minutes after the extent of the damage became apparent. What they saw on the pitch, what they saw in the hospital and the grief they feel has stripped them of the desire to play cricket."
There is an expectation that Hughes' funeral cannot take place until Wednesday. His body will be taken back to his home town of Macksville on the mid-north coast. If the players attend funeral, it will be almost impossible to come back and concentrate on a Test match starting very next day.
Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland said that the BCCI was completely supportive of the situation. "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," Sutherland 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."
First Test not the topic of conversation
As tributes were springing up around the country to commemorate Phillip Hughes, the Australian cricketers were being given time to mourn a teammate who died playing the game they all love.
The Test squad gathered with Hughes’ family and friends in Sydney overnight, yet the topic of next week’s first Test against India — for which the 25-year-old batsman was pushing for selection — wasn’t a major topic of conversation. “We haven’t broached the subject with the players yet — we will in time,” Sutherland told a news conference on Friday. “But, to be honest, they’ve got other things on their mind.
“They’re grieving and they’ve lost someone that’s incredibly close to them. It’s really important to give people time.”
So far, the reflections of friends and family of Hughes have been about the country boy who made good. “There was some great stories being told and a quite a lot of laughter about the cheeky little boy who came down from Macksville and had the highest ambitions for himself and his cricket game,” Sutherland said.
Tributes pour in
Hughes was 63 not out when he was struck by the ball on Tuesday, and that number has become symbolic in the tributes.
At Cricket Australia headquarters in Melbourne, 63 bats were placed in windows. Players from clubs around the country were to wear black armbands and observe 63 seconds of silence ahead of weekend matches, some of them with 63 painted on to the pitch.
Junior batsmen in some modified competitions who usually must retire after reaching a score of 50 will be allowed to play on until they’ve scored 63. People around Australia were leaving cricket bats at their front doors, or windows or gates as a mark of respect on Friday.
At the Sydney Cricket Ground, in addition to flowers, flags and cricket balls being left near a front office building, a cricket bat was stuck in a gate near where the players usually enter.
New South Wales premier Mike Baird announced a state memorial service would be held at the SCG, after the government arranged a date with the family. The Australian players in Sydney continued private commemorations. Clarke spent most of the 48 hours after the accident at the hospital supporting Hughes and his family.
Cricket Australia performance manager Pat Howard said for the Australian squad, cricket was a “day-by-day” proposition. “We need to be in a position when players can make strong choices. That’s not now,” Howard said. “We’re going to focus on people first, then the cricket.”
Howard said the Hughes family would be involved in the decision, and funeral plans will influence whether the first Test is delayed or abandoned.
Flags at lord’s in london, the spiritual home of cricket, were flown at half-mast, and Sutherland said he had received letters or emails from every test-playing country with their condolences.