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Phillip Hughes’ moving farewell on Wednesday doesn’t close the book on the loss of this prodigious talent, but it should be the point of realisation that it’s time to get back on the park.
The four-Test series against India has been heavily rescheduled, with only the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne unaffected.
The next round of Sheffield Shield games were pushed from today back to next Tuesday, and the first two games of the one-day Tri-Series were also swapped.
Just yesterday it was announced that four Big Bash League games had been shuffled around, stemming from a flow-on clash between the rescheduled Sydney Test, and the second of the Sydney BBL derbies.
And yes, tens of thousands of people – maybe more – have had their cricket-viewing plans affected. For some, it’s been as simple as a change of date on a ticket (and this has been my situation, with Day 1 in Sydney now three days later), for others it has involved changes of travel and accommodation arrangements, and even annual leave modifications.
Has it inconvenienced a lot of people? Well, yes, of course it has. And while there was some airing of grievances when the new schedule was first announced, the very ‘realness’ of the funeral on Wednesday has thankfully seen that subside.
The realisation is there for most cricket fans that these are extraordinary circumstances, and in the grand scheme of life, having to tweak your cricket plans this summer isn’t massive.
Phillip Hughes loved playing cricket more than most things in life – but not his cattle, evidently – and it is now time that the players ‘got back on the horse’, a phrase we’ve heard a fair bit over the last week.
Last week, I did write, “…the realisation will be there in the coming days that playing again is the best way to commence the healing process,” and that was obviously before the major rescheduling.
Everyone experiences the loss of a loved one in their life, but life does go on and cannot remain on hold forever. I say that not at all to undersell what the players might be going through, of which I obviously cannot imagine, but simply to say that getting back on with life is part of the healing process.
Australian coach Darren Lehmann penned a touching column in The Australian yesterday, in which he wrote, “We hope the boys can find the inner strength to play the game in the way Phillip would have wanted in Adelaide next week and that they can honour what he had done”.
“It’s going to be hard and if somebody is struggling Michael [Clarke] and I understand. There is no pressure on them.
Lehmann also made reference to resuming playing after his close friend David Hookes died more than 10 years ago.
“I think I played cricket about seven or 10 days after Hookesy died,” Lehmann noted.
Paceman Ryan Harris, who on Tuesday said he wasn’t sure if he’d be right to play in Adelaide and that he’d have to wait until after the funeral before he’d know, is the first player to talk about playing again.
“Seeing the green and gold streamers was a reminder these people want to see some cricket played, want to see us get out there and beat the Indians,” he wrote in his Fairfax Media column.
“One thing I noticed late on Wednesday was how the mood in the group had begun to shift. There were a few conversations about getting back to playing. The funeral was a bit of a milestone. As well as to pay your respects it gives you a bit of closure.”
Michael Clarke’s eulogy was excellent, and his emotional closing contained hints that he too knows it’s time to return to the field.
“We must dig in and get through to Tea, and we must play on,” he said.
“So rest in peace my little brother. I’ll see you out in the middle.”
I have no doubt at all that Clarke will play in Adelaide, and that he will continue his excellent leadership of the last week-and-a-half. It’s true that he wouldn’t have had a lot of physiotherapy on his hamstring, but he’s certainly done a lot of walking. I don’t recall seeing a limp or any signs of strain in recent days.
It’s been assumed Shaun Marsh has been brought in as cover for Clarke, but I don’t think that’s the case. I think he’s ‘just in case’ cover if any batsmen aren’t ready to go. And that’s curious in itself, that only one more player was added to the 12-man squad. What if three guys decide they’re just not ready?
On the topic of Marsh, the fact that his addition to the squad triggered immediate debate yesterday afternoon tells you Australian cricket fans are ready to move on, too.
So what of the bowlers? Who will be the first to bowl a short ball, and how far into the game will we have to wait for it?
New Zealand didn’t bowl a single short ball on the second day of the Second Test against Pakistan in Sharjah last week, coming the day after Hughes passed away.
By contrast, Indian quick Mohammed Shami had Tasmanian opener Jordan Silk ducking to the second ball of the day yesterday, as India commenced a second two-day tour game against a Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI at Glenelg, in Adelaide.
One-Test former South Australian quick, Peter George, now playing in Brisbane, told the opposing batsman as they walked onto the field last Saturday to expect a short one first up. It was so short and sailed so high over the batsman, it was called wide.
I said this during a New Zealand-Pakistan lunchbreak chat on Guerilla Cricket last Friday night, that the first shortish ball bowled in the Test will be greeted with ooohs and aahs, but that the first pull shot to the boundary will be heartily applauded.
Because as a sport, we’ve mourned and farewelled a wonderful player, but now it is time to get on with the game again. And the first pulled bouncer will be the sign that life, and cricket, goes on.