Sydney: Veteran fast bowler Ryan Harris has become the first Australian player to publicly express misgivings about playing in next week's first cricket test against India as the national team continues to grapple with the death of teammate Phil Hughes.
Harris said he hasn't yet made up his mind whether he will play in the Adelaide match, which will now begin Tuesday and open the rescheduled series. He said it was unlikely players would know until after Hughes' funeral in his hometown of Macksville on Wednesday, or until the assembled in Adelaide, whether they felt emotionally fit to play test cricket.
"I will have to work it out when I get to Adelaide and see how we all feel," Harris said after returning to practice with the Queensland state squad Tuesday. Hughes was batting for South Australia in a Sheffield Shield match against his former New South Wales team when he was hit behind the left ear by a short-pitch ball, causing a massive bleed in the brain. He died in hospital last Thursday, three days before he would have turned 26.
"The boys who were there, who witnessed what happened, I can't speak for them because I can't imagine what they are going through," Harris said. "Tomorrow (the funeral) is the day we are thinking about. In the back of our mind is (next) Tuesday and we have got to do what we can to try to prepare for that."
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said it would be left to each Australian player to decide whether to take part in the first test.
"Any player that is not comfortable or doesn't feel right, or there is medical advice to suggest they're not quite right, then we will obviously understand that," Sutherland said. "I'm sure the broader public will understand that as well."
Dates for all but one of the four tests have been shifted in the aftermath of Hughes' death. The series, initially scheduled to start Thursday in Brisbane, will instead open in Adelaide, which had been scheduled to host the second test.
Brisbane will now host the second test, starting Dec. 17, and the third test will start on schedule in the traditional Dec. 26 Boxing Day slot at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The fourth test in Sydney has been pushed back to start on Jan. 6.
Sutherland said it was not by design that the first test will be at Hughes' adopted home ground at the Adelaide Oval, "but it will take on extra special significance."
A full round of Sheffield Shield matches and a two-day tour game between India and a Cricket Australia XI in Adelaide were cancelled before the venue and dates for the first test were changed.
"Nobody should underestimate just what these players are going through right now," Sutherland said. "These are difficult days and we need to support them in dealing with their grief.
"It's very clear that playing a test right now is just too soon and we are reacting accordingly."
Sutherland said a range of tributes will be prepared for Hughes, who played 26 tests for Australia.
India will now play a two-day warmup match in Adelaide ahead of the first test.
Stand-in captain Virat Kohli and a number of other Indian players and officials are expected to attend Hughes' funeral in Macksville, on the New South Wales state mid-coast.
"The BCCI has shown great empathy and understanding which we truly appreciate," Sutherland said. "They have put the cricket community's concerns for the Hughes family well ahead of their own preparation."
