Cricket Aust yet to consider first Test

When India toured Australia a tick under seven years ago, a Test was thrown into a degree of doubt.

Now similar discussions are taking place around the nation, but for incomparably far more grievous reasons.

Then it was the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), furious over a three-Test suspension handed down to Harbhajan Singh.

Sachin Tendulkar recently revealed the threat of a boycott was real.

In the current context, it’s almost laughable – if the plight of Phillip Hughes were not so terribly sad.

Hughes’ critical condition has deeply affected Australian cricketers past and present, causing many to ask whether the first Test should start in Brisbane next Thursday.

The Test squad is yet to consider such a “trivial” matter. How could they when a friend is in an induced coma, having undergone emergency brain surgery?

Captain Michael Clarke and vice-captain Brad Haddin have been among the many players regularly visiting Hughes at St Vincent’s Hospital following Tuesday’s freak accident when the batsman was struck in the head by a short-pitched delivery in the South Australia-NSW Sheffield Shield match at the SCG.

Even Cricket Australia (CA) is yet to broach the subject of whether the first Test will go ahead.

“We’re simply not looking that far ahead,” a CA spokesman said on Thursday.

“Our highest priority is the welfare of Phillip and his family.”

Test players Haddin, David Warner, Shane Watson and Nathan Lyon were all in the field for NSW when they watched Hughes slump to the ground after being struck by the bouncer.

“Particularly the guys that were out on the field at the time, that are named in the Test squad, they mightn’t be feeling like playing cricket at the moment,” former Australian captain Allan Border told Fox Sports.

“You’d understand if they wanted to pull out. But I think the game should go ahead.

“We’re all a bit numb at the moment.

“I get the feeling that Phillip would want the game to go ahead. But if the individuals don’t feel up it, then so be it.”

Former Test batsman Damien Martyn posted on Twitter that it “might be worth considering postponing the first Test”.

With a jam-packed schedule, it would be difficult to reschedule the game this summer.

It means if the match does not go ahead, it is likely to be abandoned.

“Worst case scenario, I just don’t think it’ll go ahead … the players wouldn’t want to do it,” ex-Test paceman Brendon Julian told Fox.

“At this stage, that’s the least of Cricket Australia’s worries.”

India’s touring party are also in shock regarding Hughes.

“Fight it out mate. You are a top man. All the strength goes out to you and your family,” stand-in skipper Virat Kohli posted on Twitter earlier this week.

At this stage, the tourists’ two-day match against a Cricket Australia XI is expected to start on Friday as planned at Adelaide Oval.

It was the game Clarke was supposed to play if he were to prove his fitness for the first Test.

Severely scrutinised over the past fortnight, the 33-year-old’s hamstring has never been more irrelevant than now.

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