Cook explains why game must go on out of respect to Hughes

England and Sri Lanka decided the best way they could pay their respects to Phillip Hughes was to play cricket.
England's Alastair CookEngland's Alastair Cook
England's Alastair Cook

Tourists captain Alastair Cook confirmed significant discussions took place over whether to postpone the second one-day international at the Premadasa Stadium, which was due to get underway in the early hours of this morning.

Following Australia Test batsman Hughes’s death on Thursday from injuries suffered when he was hit on the neck in a Sheffield Shield match two days earlier, there was an evident case for putting the series on hold.

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New Zealand and Pakistan delayed day two of their Test in Sharjah, and resumed the match 24 hours later.

Yesterday, it fell to Cook to speak publicly for the first time since Hughes passed away.

“It was a tragic day for cricket yesterday... incredibly sad,” he said.

“All our thoughts are with Hughesy’s family and obviously those Australian players who knew him so well.”

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Asked if his own players, and Sri Lanka’s, could possibly play with the intensity appropriate for an international match in such shocking circumstances, Cook admitted perhaps not.

But he added: “I know discussions went on about whether we should be playing, and I think both sides agreed that out of respect we should carry on – try to pay our respects in the right way for Phil, and try to put on a good show.”

Hughes’s fatal injury came about when he missed a bouncer but the broad consensus is of a freak incident rather than one players can somehow seek to avoid in future.

Cook knows he must try to put it out of his mind when batting, and he will not be asking his pace bowlers to water down their tactics.

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“If you’re going to play a game, you’ve got to do it properly,” he said.

“It is a real reminder how dangerous it can be. In our dressing room, we’ve been talking about that over the last 48 hours.

“This doesn’t happen very often at all... I certainly wouldn’t change the way I play.

“It’s a natural thing. You cannot have those doubts at the back of your mind when you walk out to bat, because you won’t be playing very well.”

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The ball which hit Hughes missed the bottom of his helmet as he swivelled in an attempted pull shot, and there have been calls for a review of available safety equipment.

Cook said: “The game of cricket will move on. But it’s a real reminder to everyone how precious life is.

“What’s happened over the last three days has certainly clarified in my mind, it is just a game.

“We are incredibly lucky to be playing for England, or Australia, Sri Lanka, any international side... and we have a massive responsibility to play it the right way.

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“Yes, we play it hard – because you’re representing your country. But there’s certainly a right way of doing it.

“This is a really tragic accident. I don’t think we should change the way we play cricket – I don’t think that’s the right way to go about it.”

He acknowledges safety must be paramount, but insists helmet designs are already vastly improved.

“We’ve got to make sure we keep working as hard as we can, the manufacturers and authorities, to make cricket as safe as we can.

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“This is a real reminder to everyone that we can’t take anything for granted. We’ve got to keep trying to improve player safety, even though I think the improvements – even since I started playing cricket – have gone through the roof, especially helmets.”

Cook’s England team have joined cricketers the world over in the #putoutyourbats social media campaign following the death of Hughes.

Players from all levels have taken up the idea of posting a picture of their own bat to express their individual tribute to Hughes.

The Twitter movement began spontaneously as cricketers reacted to an initial photograph by Paul Taylor - a supporter from Sydney - of his bat, with a cap on the handle and leant against his house wall.

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England lined up the bats of the whole 15-strong squad outside the dressing room before their practice session at the Premadasa Stadium.

England’s Performance Programme players, in Sri Lanka, too, also joined the campaign and followed suit.