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The passing of Phillip Hughes resonates at an unprecedented level

It is manifestly unfair that r,vo yo ung lives should be forever intertwined in sudi tragic circumstances. Phillip Joel HL1ghes was the 25-yearold countr y boy who sca led the heights of the cricketing world, broke several records along the way, and responded to the crushing lows of multiple demotions in the ooly way he knew how - by piling on the runs. Sea n Anthony Abb ott is the 22 -year- o ld from Western Sydney w ho only recently made h is rise to the cop and remai ns a significant figure in Au stralia's lim itless p oo l of talented fast bowlers. It is heartbreaking that only one of them can continue h is jo urney; and farther heartbreaking still, that significant obsta cl es now lie in his path.

Whe n Hughes was struck with what wou ld eventually be a fatal deliver,~ his mother and sister were watching on in tbe stand s at tlie Sydney Cricket Ground, the scen e of several of his m ost treasured m oments. As he paused and lean ed on h is knees for a few seconds, appearing winded and dazed at worst, it would not have been in th eir - or anyone's - wildest contemplation that events would then take such a devastating turn.

As he fell forward unrestrained , his head collicling witli his beloved and forme r home turf, the shockwaves would have been especially chilli.ng for his devoted famil y as they helplessly watched o n. It was at tl1is point, as his former NSW teamma te s st arted fran tically calling for an ambulance, as hardened Baggy

Green veterans David Warner and Brad Hadel.in grew increasingly disturbed and d.istraught, and as the desperately tiolucky Abbott cradled the head of the batsman w hom he felled, that di e grnv.ity of the impact became clear.

Even as it stood then, cricket would never be the same. But d1e passing of Hughes just two days late r has ramifica tions that w ill be more far-reaching dian previous ly imaginable, even though Hughes is not t he first cricketer to die fro m injuries s ustained o n a cricket field. That list is s ignificant, the m ost recognisable name bein g forme r lnd.ian test cricketer Raman Lamba, who d.ied after being struck by the ball while _fielding at short leg

Hughe~'s passing resonates INDIANLINK at an unprecedented level for several reasons. He is the fi r st Test batsman to d.ie from a b low sustained while barring - wi th or wi d10ut a helmet.

In ove r 135 years of test cric ket, there is no record of such an even t. His passing also casts significa n t doubt over the trust placed by today's bats men .in their protective equipment; in die modern era, batsmen fea.rless.Iy attempt shots in full reliance o n the fact tliat if t hey get it wron g, they face bruising or, at worst, a fractu re. I.n adclirion, g iven A bbo tt's youth and the fact that the .incident occurred in a domestic game, bowlers a n d batsmen across di e cmmtry at all level s will now have second thoughts about bowling and p laying bouncers respectively There have b een the inevitab le calls for bouncers to be ou d awed. But as described by die bead of trauma surgery at Sydn ey's St Vincent's Hospital where Hughes was treated, Hughes's injury, whi le "catastrophic", was "ve ry rare and very freakish" So much so, that the inj trry Hughes sustained- a vertebral artery dissection lead.ing to s ubarachnoid haemorcliagehad never before been seen at the hospital, with only 100 cases ever reported worldw id e.

It was an increclibl y unlikely combination of so man y fac tots: the pace of the p itch , the level of wear and tear on the ball, the relative fatig ue levels of bQ[h batsman and bowler, Hughes's search for quick ru n s and even die rain- free week lead ing up to the match. U nequivocall y, it was noone's fault.

The bo uncer has perennially been a part of die game, a vital weapon at die bowler's disposal. It is n ot devised to hurt di e b atsman: it pushes the bats man back, induces uncertain footwork and false strokes. Until the recent resurgence of fast bowling, there was even an unspoken code between fast b owle rs n ot to bowl b ouncers at l esser bats men.

If any positive can come our of such a tragic situation - as is often the case - .i t is clialogue and h umanity.

There are many areas to add ress. An inquir y into the adequacy of helmets that fail to add ress the most gla ring deficiencies in th e human shill is paramount. The incident reignites the debate regarding cricket's lo n gtime disregard for a concussion rule. lmportan dy, a review must be conducted .into absurdl y dangerous television segments on programs s uch as the C,icket Sho)I) and the promotion of dangerous conduct on the cricket field.

In a now infamous televisi on stunt, Brett Lee furious ly hurled 150 km/h bowicers at English TV host Piers Morgan in Januar y, clearl y aiming co in;ure him , unde r the g uise of (in Lee's own wotds) "educating'' t he public. Althou gh Lee bas expressed u.nderstandab le grjef at Hnghes's passing, Lee's, and Channel 9's, w illingness m risk a man's life in a sadistic pursuit of viewe rship must be closely scrutinised.

However, it is the quintessentially human e lements of die accident, rather t han public debate and policy reform, that will shape how those closely affected b y it will emerge. The significant counselling offered to Sean Abbott and odi er crickete r s has been widely reported Cricket Australia's determi na tion to focus en tirely o n Hughes's family and teammates is commendab le, despite the insensitivity of the lnd.ian journalist who as ked, during the first St Vincent's Ho spiral pres s conference, whether the first Test against India would be go ing ahead

And there i s renewed recognition chat "trageclies" in sport - l\{ichael Clarke's torn hamstri n g, Bra dman falling for a duck in hi s final innin gs, Tend u.li<ar failing to reac h a century in h is 200'h Test match - a re so far removed fro m the concept of true tragedy, that diey are inconceivabl y irrelevant

The incident may haunt Abbott forever, but it is w idely acknowledged that Hughe s would be die first to forgive him. An imminent r e,mrn is perhaps unlikely, but the public and Abbott's teamma tes will o pen him w idi welcome and caring arms when he r esumes his career.

Phillip J--lugbes was taken from us too soon He will be missed.

RitamMitra

A preview of the cricket season ahead

\;IBY RITAMM ITRA

Ccicket was changed forever l ast mo nth wirh the passing of one of i ts most universally beloved p layers, Phillip Hughes, rwo da ys after he was fatally struck b y a bouncer during a Sheffi eld Shield match ar the Sydney Cricket Ground. Al tho ug h the response ro his death bas b een t mprecedented and heart- warming, wi th a widespread o urp ouring o f grief and support, its full impact on the crfrke t world and the game its elf, fo r the m oment, remain s unclear. There is n o doubt, however, that each an d every match d uring the enormous in tern ational srnnrner that lies ah ead for cricket fans will be dedica ted to Hughes. As hi s family a n d friends have made clear, Hughes wo uld have wan ted the show to go o n , and fo r the n ext b all t o b e bowled; after all , cricket was everything to him. With the memory o f Philli p Hughes in m in d, we take a look at what you can expect from o ne o f the b iggest seaso n s of cricket in m e m ory

Border- Gavaskar Trophy

Matches benveen I nd ia and Australia have grown to b ecome so m e of the most highly an ti c ipa ted and enthralling encounters, albeit freque ntly one-sided d epending on the h emisphere in which they take place Th is summer, a mun ber of i n teresting side-plots have emerged and they will p lay significant ro les in the way India 's tour un fo ld s

To begin with, it's the first Indian tour do wn under withour at least o n e of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahn! D ravid, VVS Laxman or Sourav Ganguly along since 1991. India 's previo us ly fo rmidable batting line- up - which still failed to win a Test series in Australia in several attempts - has since been replaced wi cl1 a tal.ented b u t u nproven squad including Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sh arm a, A jinkya Rah a ne and Snres h Raina In fact, o nly Virat Kohli bas experienced a Test tonr of Australia as a regular in th e play ing Xl

It w ill b e interestin g to see how tbe fresh Indian batsmen - some o f whom have bistorjcaJly been suscep ti b le to short-pitched b owling - respo nd to the n owknown threat of J',fitc hell J oh n son and company E n gland were a mbu shed by J o hn son: the lCC Cricketer of the Year w ith 37 wickets to him during the Ashes ea rlier this year. U n like E ngla nd , h o , vever, India kn ow wh at to expect.

Captain cy conundrum

Th ere is a good chance th at bo d1 captains wi ll be ruled our of the first Test through in jur y While MS Dh oni ha s already b een c o nfirme d unavai lable, Australia sweats o n t he fitness of :Michae.1 Clar ke - particularly given the n eed to p ull together a group of p layers still heartbroken at me passing of o n e o f the ir best m ates The good news for Australi a is that Clarke ha s a few precious extra days to prove his fitn ess, due to the rescheduling of the Test series co accomm odate Phil Hughes's funeral in Macksvil.le o n 3 D ecember Ko hli has captained India to an U nd e r- 19 Wo rld Cu p as \Vell as nvin 5-0 OD1 series win s against Sd Lanka and Z imbabwe Captaining India in a Test match against Australia will be an a ltogether different monster mough. Ravi Shastri, India's team director, bas promised that Kohli wi U lead th e team as would a veteran with 20 matches word1 of experience. However, India 's Aedgling bowling a tt ack, the n eed to manage the team's stra tegies and emotion s in hostile foreign c o n ditions, and I ndi a's h e avy reliance o n KoWi's batting will place an enorm ous am o tmt of pressure o n him. Australia will turn to wic ketkeeper Brad Haddin o r middle-o rd e r batsm an Steve Smith to take the reins Given Australia's extraordinary dept h of fast bowlers and th e familiar hom e co n ditio n s, .losing Dhoni will likel y prove to b e m o re sign ifi ca n t.

The Carlton Mid ODI Tri

Se ri es

Tbe calm before t he sto rm, me tourna m ent between Aus tralia, E n g land and India wi ll be o n e last ch ance for the team s to fine - mne th e ir preparations and finalise t heir squads ahead of the biggest event o n th e cricke t calendar, the I CC World Cup.

Australia's series against South

A fr ica lacked context, but this will be different: t he i mminence of the World Cup, t h e motivation co send a warning to the other teams and th e n eed to develop t he "habit" of winning that elite sporrspeople revere, will all contribute co t he inte nsity of cl1e battle.

A lthough India a n d Australia are the leading favourites for me World Cup, each with ~table sides , India's lo n g tour and Australia's massive summe r may see some fringe players get a chance to break into the p la)~ ng XI

E ng land, meanwhile, are likely to face further emb arrassment on the world stage unless they make full use o f the precious preparation ti.me they h ave bee n granted o n Australian soil.

The World Cup

Th e hype for the I CC World Cup, to be h eld in Australia and New Zeal.and , hasn't ta ken off yet - there is simply coo much cricket to be played b efore 13 Feb r uary, when matches between New Zealan d a nd Sri Lanka, and Australia an d E n gland, will open the tournament. H owever, ticket sales have been quietly steady, wi cl1 some m atch es selling out sever al mo nths in advance

The 2015 edition of the tou rnam ent is one of t he mo st open in recent m e m ory. Au stralia, w ith an explosive batting line u p, a strong pace attack and home ad vantage, are title favourites, b u t team s suc h as Iodia, South Africa:, ew Zealand a nd the West Indies are all genui n e contenders for the crown As always, a team 's successful campaign may come down to the mental conditioning of the players and the ir ability to lift their intensity during t h e critical mo m ents

The 2014/15 srnmner of cricket pro mises co be a blockbuster affair. T he excitem ent will be palpable a nd we will plar h os t to patriotic r evellers from aro und the world. Bur a tinge of sadness will ooderstandably u nd erpin every moment of elation; Phil Hughes r eminds us th at there is more to it than just a game.