SYDNEY: Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes will be buried in his home town on Wednesday (Dec 3), Cricket Australia said yesterday, forcing the indefinite postponement of the test match against India which was scheduled to begin the following day.
Hughes, 25, died on Thursday as the result of a catastrophic injury he sustained when struck on the head by a ball during a domestic match, triggering a wave of mourning in Australia and around the world.
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said it would have been unreasonable to expect the players to get the four-test series underway less than 24 hours after Hughes was laid to rest in Macksville, New South Wales.
“Their welfare is our absolute priority. They are grieving and to expect that they could play a high-pressured, five-day test match the following day is out of the question,” he said in a statement.
Australia captain Michael Clarke earlier gave a graphic illustration of the raw emotions of the players when he broke down repeatedly while paying tribute to his friend.
Battling to hold back tears, he read out a statement on behalf of the players at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where Hughes suffered his fatal injury on Tuesday.
“Words cannot express the loss we feel as a team right now,” Clarke said.
“We are going to miss that cheeky grin and that twinkle in his eye. He epitomised what the baggy green was about and what it means to us all.
“The world lost one of its great blokes this week and we are all poorer for it.”
Clarke said the players had requested that Cricket Australia retire Hughes’s one-day international number, 64.
“They agreed. That means so much,” he added. “His legacy of trying to improve each and every day will drive us for the rest of our lives.
“Our dressing room will never be the same. We loved him and always will. Rest in peace bruzzy.”
Tributes continued to flood in from around the world for Hughes and an indication of how deeply his death has affected his fellow professionals came in Sharjah, where Pakistan are hosting New Zealand in a test.
The second test had been postponed for a day after Hughes died and there was no celebration of wickets on Friday.
“The game was irrelevant at that stage, that was just a natural reaction by a group of people whose mind was elsewhere,” New Zealand coach Mike Hesson told reporters in Sharjah.
“We didn’t bowl any bouncers and that was to show respect.”
“Back in Australia, Hughes was not forgotten as today morning cricket was played across the country in blazing sunshine, as it has been for more than a century.”
Cricket Australia has encouraged teams at all levels to remember Hughes and both the score he had accumulated when the fatal blow struck him, 63 not out, and his test number, 408, were much in evidence on pitches around the country.
At a match between Sydney Boys and Shore schools in Centennial Park, just a stone’s throw from the SCG, a row of bats topped with cricket caps were lined up beside the pitch in tribute.
Cricket at the elite level has yet to resume with senior club matches cancelled in Sydney and Adelaide, where Hughes played his state cricket for South Australia for the last couple of years.
Cricket Australia (CA) announced Saturday that the first Test match between Australia and India, due to start Thursday would be rescheduled, following the tragic death of batsman Phillip Hughes from a bouncer during a domestic match.
Details about the Test match are still to be determined, a CA statement said.
“These are extraordinary circumstances and we simply couldn’t or wouldn’t expect our players to be emotionally ready to start a Test match the day after farewelling one of their teammates.
Their welfare is our absolute priority. They are grieving and to expect that they could play a high-pressured, five-day Test match the following day is out of the question,” CA chief executive Sutherland said.
CA thanked the Indian cricket board for supporting the decision.
“We appreciate the incredible understanding and support of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). It has been nothing short of outstanding during these difficult times. We fully acknowledge the many groups who want to know when the Test will take place.”
CA also asked for patience from the cricketing community in the wake of the tragic incident.
“We just ask the cricket community for some patience as we work through a range of scenarios in full consultation with the players, the Indian Board, the ICC and our broadcasters. We hope to resolve all matters in the next few days and will let cricket fans and the gameÂ’s many important stakeholders know as a priority.”
The ticket sales for the Test have also been suspended.
“The players are going through a grieving process and they must be afforded the opportunity to do so. As anyone can appreciate, this process doesnÂ’t run according to a clock or a calendar.
A meeting will be held early next week to discuss the scheduling of the fifth round of the Sheffield Shield matches due to start Friday (Dec 5). (pti)