Unity following Hughes’ death: Shipperd

Victorian cricket coach Greg Shipperd says the death of Phillip Hughes can galvanise his former Test and South Australian teammates just as it did for the Bushrangers when they lost David Hookes.

The Victorian team was rocked by the death of their coach Hookes, who died 10 years ago after being punched in the head by a bouncer outside a pub where the team was celebrating a win.

Shipperd, who was then assistant coach and took over from Hookes, said the tragedy pulled the Victorians together.

“I’m sure that Australian unit is going to challenged at different times but I think there’s a sense of unity amongst that group and there will be a strong purpose,” Shipperd said.

“These events tend to galvanise people as we saw in 2003-04 with the David Hookes circumstances – it really galvanised the Victorian team and we went on to win that season.”

Shipperd is expecting his players to line up in their Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia beginning on Tuesday.

Some members of the grieving South Australian team are considering pulling out of their clash with Tasmania as they struggle to deal with the death of Hughes, who was felled by a bouncer from NSW paceman Sean Abbott.

Shipperd said his players could make their own call on whether they felt up to playing but said it was “healthy” to get back into it.

“It’s important to get back on the horse and start playing again,” he said.

“When we talk about tolerance it’s as well about those who do want to play and that balance has to work in both directions so if the Victorians and West Australians are ready to play than they should.”

The full contingent of Victorian players who attended Hughes’ funeral in Macksville on Wednesday, including Cameron White and pallbearer Aaron Finch, were back training in the MCG nets on Friday morning.

Shipperd said he could understand some reluctance by his pacemen to bowl bouncers but said it was a vital part of the game and shouldn’t be outlawed.

“Personally I think that the strength of cricket is that contest between bat and ball and I think that would shift the scales of balance way too heavily in favour of the batsman,” he said.

“In the fullness of time that strategy around bowling that ball will come to the fore and it will continue to be a part of the game of cricket.”

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