Recovering from the shock of Phillip Hughes’ tragic death, Australian coach Darren Lehmann is hoping that the distraught cricketers would honour the late batsman’s memory by playing the opening Test against India here even though they are under no pressure to turn up. The home side is under tremendous emotional stress following Hughes’ death after being hit by a bouncer during a domestic game.
“We hope the boys can find the inner strength to play the game in the way Phillip would have wanted in Adelaide next week and that they can honour what he had done. We want to hold his values close to our heart and that means playing cricket the way he did, with a love of the game and a smile. It’s going to be hard and if somebody is struggling Michael and I understand. There is no pressure on them,” Lehmann wrote in his column for The Australian.
“We hope the boys can find the inner strength to play the game in the way Phillip would have wanted in Adelaide next week and that they can honour what he had done. We want to hold his values close to our heart and that means playing cricket the way he did, with a love of the game and a smile. It’s going to be hard and if somebody is struggling Michael and I understand. There is no pressure on them,” Lehmann wrote in his column for The Australian.