It took a lot for the Australian team to turn up for the first Test of the 2014 Border-Gavaskar Test series at the Adelaide Oval, putting behind the grief of losing their friend, Phil Hughes. The memories are bound to flood them again as they return to the very venue where the horrific accident took place – the Sydney Cricket Ground.
David Warner is of one of the players in the current Australian Test team who were part of that fateful game. And the ghosts are still haunting him. “It’s going to be emotional,” Warner said.
“I know for myself, just walking out there brought back memories and it’s always going to be in the back of my mind no matter what. Every time I come here, every time I walk out on the field, every time I’ve got nothing on my mind I’m going to be thinking about it,” said an emotional Warner.
“I know when I go to face up at that Randwick end (where Hughes was hit by the bouncer) I’m going to be looking down at that spot – it’s going to be tough but I’ve got to try and hold back the emotions and do what I do for the team and try and score runs.”
While Warner knows the importance of buckling down and not letting the emotions take over, he also knows that the emotions can only be subsided, not gotten rid of.
“It’s not all right. At the moment, not just for me but for the guys that were here as well are putting on a brave face,” Warner said.
“Coming out here to train today and yesterday was okay but I was just standing out there before and talking to a friend of mine about the incident and where I was fielding and now every time when I go out there to field it’s going to be in the back of my mind whoever we’re playing.”
In a gesture to immortalize Hughes at the venue, the SCG Ground Trust have decided to erect a plaque of him just outside the dressing room area. Warner welcomed the idea.
“I think it’s a great thing that the Trust are going to do that for Phil and his family,” he said. “It’s going to be hard for them to come down this week and watch, (but) he would want us to keep going and keep smiling and keep playing the game that we love and the game he loved.
“It’s a great touch from them and every time we walk on and off the field we’ll have a smile on our face knowing our little mate is with us. I can’t talk on how Hughesy would feel but every time he came here, whether it was a Shield game or for Australia, he absolutely loved playing here.
“Everyone’s seen the amount of runs he scored and when he got a hundred he got a big one. I remember when he first got called up for New South Wales the smile on his face was so big that you could see it from the moon.
“For all of us it’s a great thing to come out here and play at the SCG – I’m going to be biased and say it’s the home of cricket.”
Drifting his focus on cricket, and especially the now retired Indian Test captain, Warner paid his tribute to MS Dhoni, calling him a very “knowledgeable” man.
“MS thinks a lot about the game, he’s very knowledgeable. He knows a lot about to get each individual out, you can see the plans and you know what they’re going to bring to the table,” Warner said.
“It was always challenging when you’re out there – what trick does he have up his sleeve today.”
Warner said the absence of Dhoni’s experience will give Australia an edge.
“For India to not have the experience that Dhoni brings gives us a bit of an edge. Kohli is a fiery character but he goes out there and plays with his heart on his sleeve.
“I think he’s a fantastic cricketer, he’s got a long career ahead of him, I think he’ll do a fantastic job and I’d like to see if he comes out with the aggression he used last Test and if he does that as a captain as well.
Australia too will miss an experienced member of their side, in Mitchel Johnson, who has been ruled out of the fourth Test due to soreness in his hamstring. Warner said Mitchell Starc is capable of filling in Johnson’s shoes when it comes to bowling at fiery speeds.
“We’ve got Mitchell Starc, who can bowl at 150kph,” Warner said.
“Mitch (Johnson) has that x-factor and I think the opposition sometimes get that fear that they’re going out to face Mitchell for three or five overs and they’ve got to get through that tough period.
“But we’ve got great stock behind us and they’ll be able to do that job. Most of Starc’s dismissals been lbw or bowled. He needs to pitch the ball up and get it to swing.”
