Phillip Hughes tragedy: Sean Abbott opts to miss Sydney game as he weighs up future
Sunday 7 December 2014 15:19, UK
Sean Abbott will sit out this weekend's Sydney club games as the Australian bowler considers his future since Phillip Hughes' death.
The 22-year-old, who has played in three Twenty20 internationals and a one-dayer for Australia, is understood to have undergone counselling since bowling the ball which resulted in the death of batsman Hughes.
The New South Wales paceman has received the full support of his Australian team-mates and has been urged not to quit the sport, but for the time being Abbott will not participate for club side Sydney University with the first round of Sydney grade fixtures resuming this weekend.
Mitchell Starc has also chosen not to play, but Pat Cummins and Doug Bollinger are among those to return.
Ahead of the delayed first Test against India, which starts on December 9, the Australia Test squad have started training for the first time since the death of Hughes and coach Darren Lehmann has already said it might be too soon for some of his players to return to action.
Skipper Michael Clarke, who gave an emotional address at Hughes’ funeral on Wednesday, remains a doubt for the Test as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury.
Abbott returned to training with New South Wales on Tuesday and attended Hughes' funeral the following day and the club's chief executive Andrew Jones insisted it would be Abbott's call if he wanted to play against Queensland next week.
"He's in the same boat as everybody else," Jones said. "It's a matter for him to see what he wants to do so we'll let him make that decision.
"We'll just regroup then and confirm where everybody is at and if everyone's comfortable to play or not comfortable to play or where individuals are at, and go from there."
Former Australia fast bowler Merv Hughes has called for pacemen to send down an early bouncer in Australia's first Test against India to "clear the air" in the wake of Hughes' death from a short-pitched delivery.
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Former players and pundits have debated whether fast bowlers will be as enthusiastic about using the short ball but Hughes, who took 212 wickets in 53 Tests for Australia, said teams must "play on", citing Australia captain Michael Clarke's moving eulogy at batsman Hughes' funeral.
"There's been bouncers bowled over 100 years of cricket and this was an isolated incident," Hughes said.
"The longer it goes without someone bowling a bouncer, the more it's going to be talked about, the more it's going to be on people's minds. I reckon just to clear the air, the first ball of the game, each game, should just be a bouncer. And just say, 'right, let's get on with business.'"
Watch the first Test between Australia and India live on Sky Sports 2 from 11.30pm on Monday night.
