Australian cricketers will lean on each other this week, as they seek to do Phillip Hughes’ family proud in the SCG Test.
A plaque honouring Hughes was installed outside the home dressing room at the SCG on Monday.
It means Steve Smith and his teammates will be faced with a reminder of Hughes’ shock death at the venue every time they take the field.
“Particularly this week, it’s going to be great to be able to walk past that and see the little fella there and give us a bit of inspiration as we’re going out on the field,” Smith said on the eve of his side’s fourth and final Test against India.
“Hughesy was one of us, he was one of our good mates. We’ve just got to take care of each other this week.”
Smith said it will be important for the players to keep each other in good spirits.
“It’s going to be another emotional Test match and hopefully we can do the Hughes family proud by playing well this week,” he said.
The occasion will be challenging for the entire team and its support staff.
But it will be especially trying for Shane Watson, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Brad Haddin and David Warner – who were all fielding at the SCG when Hughes was felled by a bouncer.
“Coming back to the place where it happened, I thought it was going to be extremely tough for the boys,” Smith said.
“Particularly the ones that were out there on the day.
“It’s going to be a tough Test match … hopefully we can hold our emotions together well and end this series well.”
Hughes’ family are expected to travel from Macksville and attend the match in Sydney.
“We’ve just got to make sure we’re very respectful to the Hughes family that are going to be down here for this Test match,” Smith said
“That’s very important to us and it’s very important to them.
“Hopefully, we can hold our emotions together well and end this series well.”
India skipper Virat Kohli noted he “couldn’t really imagine what the family must feel like coming to this Test match”.
“It is going to be a strange feeling, stepping on to the field knowing that the incident happened on this very ground,” Kohli said.
“As the game starts, hopefully we can not think about it and get on with the sport which the two teams have done really well in this series.”
