No mood to play after tragedy

PLAY was called off in the third cricket test between Pakistan and New Zealand in Sharjah yesterday following the death of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes, which left the tourists in no mood to play.

The Pakistan Cricket Board and New Zealand Cricket agreed to suspend the second day’s play and finish the Test on Monday instead of Sunday.

“Today isn’t about cricket, it’s about Phil,” said New Zealand coach Mike Hesson.

“Like the rest of the cricketing family, the BlackCaps players and management are devastated to hear about Phil’s tragic passing.

“It’s an unthinkable loss and I can tell you it’s an incredibly sombre dressing room right now.”

“To those who were close to Phillip, we extend our deepest sympathies. Our thoughts are with you during this extremely difficult time.”

Pakistan, who lead the three-Test series 1-0, were to resume on 281/3 with opening batsman Mohammad Hafeez unbeaten on 178 and captain Misbahul-Haq on 38.

“Today will be treated as a rest day. The Test will resume tomorrow and conclude a day later than scheduled,” New Zealand Cricket said in a post on their official Twitter feed.

The stadium scoreboard offered a tribute to Hughes, reading: “Sharjah Cricket deeply mourns the untimely demise of Australian cricketer Mr Phillip Hughes – RIP” with an image of the batsman displayed at the opposite end.

India have also called off their two-day tour match starting today against Cricket Australia XI in Adelaide following the tragedy.

The game was to be India's final warm-up to next week’s opening Test against Australia in Brisbane– Reuters