There was only one topic of conversation in Colombo and it had nothing to do with the second one-day international, which is due to start on Saturday morning.
The cricketing community here was stunned by the terrible news of Phil Hughes’ death. Petty rivalries had long been cast aside by the freak accident in Sydney to be replaced by an all-embracing feeling of grief and bewilderment among those who have played or watched the game over the last few decades.
The England team, recuperating from a sapping day-night match at the Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday, soon cancelled any media activity. Instead they issued a short statement: “Our deepest sympathies go out to Phil Hughes’ family, friends and team-mates at this incredibly sad time. Phil was admired and respected by all he played with and against and will never be forgotten by the cricket community.”
On Twitter Ian Bell summed up the mood of the England squad, some of whom have played alongside Hughes for Middlesex and Worcestershire. “Absolutely devastated to hear that Phil has passed away. Thoughts and prayers with his family and friends. Please spare a thought for Sean Abbott too. Horrendous.”
On another day we would have been celebrating Moeen Ali’s dazzling century, agonising over the suitability of Alastair Cook as his opening partner and lamenting the lack of discipline and devil among England’s current pace bowlers.
Cricketers past and present are comfortable with those kinds of discussion. They can debate them earnestly for hours on end. Now such issues seemed as insignificant as a falling leaf.
Instead there were huddles of cricket folk around the hotels of Colombo, recalling previous incidents of batsmen or fielders being struck on the head, of close shaves and miraculous escapes, of pre-helmet days that now seem so harum-scarum. There were no real conclusions being drawn, just the numb confusion provoked by a freak and tragic accident to a gifted young cricketer.
In Sharjah, where Pakistan were playing a Test match against New Zealand, play was suspended for the day after the players had learned of the tragedy an hour before the game was due to start. There was no suggestion in Colombo that the schedule for the one-day series should be changed. Currently the plan is for Saturday’s day match to go ahead – provided the weather allows – and that seems appropriate. Once the England hierarchy returns their attention to this series they are bound to reconsider what constitutes their best side.
Like so many cricketers before him Steven Finn’s stock has risen while out of the team. Finn is expected to be fully fit by Saturday, in which case he will surely play, probably at the expense of Harry Gurney or Ben Stokes. On Wednesday Gurney was more useful to his captain, but Stokes, so wanton with the ball and blinkered with bat in that first match, obviously has greater potential as a match-winner when the World Cup comes around. This presents yet another uncomfortable balancing act for the selectors.
The lineup of English batsmen is likely to remain the same although, on the evidence of Wednesday night, it might be advisable for the captain to go to the crease without wearing his right pad. Inevitably the focus will be on him yet again as well as his vice-captain, Eoin Morgan. Like Finn, Alex Hales’ stock is rising with every drink that he delivers around the boundary edge. Cook’s form continues to be a major concern, while it is now 15 matches since Morgan has hit an ODI half-century.
Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan and Thisara Perera, meanwhile, have been fined and reprimanded by the International Cricket Council for a Level 1 disciplinary offence. Dilshan will lose 25% of his match fee for excessive appealing, and it is understood Perera’s 20% fine is the result of using inappropriate language on the field. Both players admitted the offences and were therefore punished without the need for a disciplinary hearing.
In the wake of news from Australia England’s batting options in ODI cricket hardly stirred the soul. However, the team are here to try to win the series and to prepare for that World Cup in Australasia. In a sense it has to matter or why should we all bother? Yet on this glum, grey Colombo day it did not seem to matter much at all.
