Devastated Australian cricketers continue to rally around stricken Phillip Hughes amid uncertainty about next week’s first Test.
Players including Aaron Finch and Matthew Wade have flown in from interstate to be by Hughes’ bedside at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital where he remains in a critical condition in an induced coma.
Wade, Moises Henriques and Brad Haddin, who hugged Finch as he walked through the hospital doors, arrived on Thursday morning to see Hughes.
Australian coach Darren Lehmann also visited Hughes and arrived a short while later at Cricket NSW headquarters. David Warner and his wife Candice Falzon arrived at the Cricket NSW office at Moore Park where they warmly embraced and visited Hughes in hospital.
The South Australian batsman was struck in the head on Tuesday during the Sheffield Shield game against NSW at the SCG.
The 25-year-old underwent surgery to relieve pressure on his brain, and doctors said they expected to know the outcome of the procedure by Thursday.
His family are at his bedside, waiting and watching for any improvement in his condition.
NSW players and staff are staying close together to offer each other support. NSW and South Australian players and staff have all been offered counselling and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) is working to extend that to other state players.
Particular concern is being held for Sean Abbott, the NSW paceman who delivered the ball which felled Hughes.
The entire round of Shield clashes has been called off and there are doubts about whether next week’s round of state fixtures and the opening Test against India in Brisbane, which is due to begin on Thursday, will go ahead.
Former Australian captain Allan Border said he would understand if players wanted to pull out of the Test match.
“There will be guys, 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,” Border told Fox Sports.
“You’d understand if they wanted to pull out. But I think the game should go ahead.”
ACA chief executive Alistair Nicholson on Wednesday said it would be up to individual players when they returned to the field and it was too early to know if any would take a break from the game.
The Test squad was due to begin assembling in Brisbane on Sunday.
Meanwhile, NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner will meet the head of NSW Ambulance Ray Creen on Thursday to discuss concerns about the time it took for an emergency team to get to the SCG to treat Hughes.
Sydney Cricket Ground officials called for an ambulance about six minutes after the batsman was felled by the bouncer at 2.23pm on Tuesday.
The ambulance called out at 2.29pm did not arrive until 2.52pm, NSW Ambulance said.
