In terms of preparing the Gabba for its annual season-opening cricket Test, no man’s job is more important than Kevin Mitchell Jnr.
The curator has no doubt the pitch will be ready to go, should the grief-stricken Australian side feel up to playing in the same week they attend Phillip Hughes’ funeral.
The first Test was slated to start on Thursday, but it was delayed so players can attend Hughes’ service at Macksville High School on Wednesday.
No announcement has been made as to whether the game will start this week, be rescheduled for later in summer, or abandoned completely.
Cricket Australia and its Indian counterpart were working through the details on Sunday afternoon.
“We’re just in a bit of a holding pattern at the moment,” Mitchell Jnr told AAP.
“We’re waiting to hear more and we’ll adjust our program accordingly.
“Our final four days is pretty important, so we’ve been able to delay the most intense part of the preparation until we know more.
“The weather is pretty good, so it’s all achievable.”
The Test squad travelled to Sydney following the shock death of Hughes, who was felled at the SCG on Tuesday.
The players have returned to their hometowns and the next time they come together will be for Hughes’ funeral on Wednesday.
When they will feel ready for the toughest Test of their cricket careers is unclear, as they are still mourning the desperately unlucky death of a close friend.
Australian Cricketers Association chief Alastair Nicholson asked for patience on Saturday regarding the uncertainty.
“The players are going through a grieving process and they must be afforded the opportunity to do so. As anyone can appreciate, this process doesn’t run according to a clock or a calendar,” Nicholson said.
“This is a unique situation and a unique response is required.”
Tickets sales have been suspended for the game, with Cricket Australia working through a range of scenarios with players, the Indian board, the ICC and its TV broadcasters.
If the match does go ahead this week, Mitchell Jnr will bring one tiny degree of ordinary to a situation that would be anything but.
“It’d be fairly similar to a typical Gabba deck, hopefully something with a bit for everyone,” he said.
“It’s actually the same (Test) pitch as the last few years – we’ve been able to bring up the same wicket, No.4 in the middle.”
Last year it was the scene of Mitchell Johnson’s Ashes rebirth, terrorising England’s batsmen with his short-pitched bowling.
The crowd was bedazzled with an England side “petrified” in the words of Kevin Pietersen.
It seems a world away now.
