Haddin seeks Australian fans support in wake of Hughes death

AFP/AdelaideVice-captain Brad Haddin said yesterday the Australia team needs the support of fans as it gears up to play an emotional first Test against India in Adelaide next week. The Australian players are back in training for Tuesday’s series opener just days after gathering at Macksville in New South Wales for the funeral of their teammate Phillip Hughes. Hughes, 25, died on November 27 from bleeding on the brain, two days after being knocked unconscious by a bouncer in Sydney, plunging the cricketing world into mourning. “We need the support of the Australian public and everyone leading into this first Test,” Haddin told reporters at the Adelaide Oval yesterday. “We’re looking forward to playing and we need the help of everyone to enjoy the moment and just enjoy the game of cricket. Our job is to go and play cricket.” Haddin said it would be important not to over complicate things in the wake of the Hughes tragedy and the outpouring of grief over his death. “I don’t think you need to look too deep into what’s going to happen. You’re going to get a cricket game here on Tuesday, you’ll enjoy it and so will we,” Haddin said. “We get back to playing the game we love. I don’t think you need to complicate it any more than that.” Haddin was behind the stumps for New South Wales when South Australian batsman Hughes was fatally struck by a bouncer at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The 37-year-old wicketkeeper replied in typical no-nonsense fashion when asked whether he would be mentally right to play the opening Test of the four-match series. “Yep,” was all he said. Hughes’ death and the grief that enveloped the entire Test squad was not mentioned by Haddin yesterday. “Cricket is just a game,” he said, when asked if the sport will ever be the same again. “We just got back to cricket. We can try to complicate it as much as we want, but we went back to cricket training. Everybody did what he needed to do yesterday. We got a bit of volume, and a bit of miles in our legs. We needed to feel that cricket hurt in our legs again. So we got that and yeah, it was a good day back training.”Haddin was confident captain Michael Clarke will play the first Test. According to Haddin, who will captain the side should Clarke not be declared fit, Clarke was “going in the right direction”, and that he had not given a thought to captaining the side.Clarke completed two separate training sessions and Haddin said Clarke had already had “a good hit”. “Michael’s been strong for the team for a long time. I think he’s a tremendous captain, and we want our captain out there playing. All signs are that he’s going in the right direction, and like everyone else, we want Michael out there leading our team in the first hour of play here in Adelaide,” he said. The Australian players have been encouraged to reach out to Michael Lloyd, the psychologist who works with the team on a near full-time basis, but only tours with the team when required. “We’ve had Lloydy travelling with us pretty consistently. So, he’s been around,” said Haddin. “He’s been really good for us for a long time now. There’s a lot of trust there from the players. It’s been good to have Lloydy there just to talk to.”