India tour of Australia 2014: Re-scheduling Test series is ‘not perfect’, says James Sutherland

Adelaide: Dec 3, 2014

Cricket Australia (CA) chief Executive James Sutherland admitted that the re-scheduling of the four-match Test series between India and Australia after the tragic demise of batsman Phil Hughes was “not perfect” but hopes that people will understand the “big picture”. Hughes succumbed to his head injury after being hit by a Sean Abbott bouncer in a domestic game in Sydney last Tuesday.

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The incident forced CA to postpone the first Test which was earlier slated to be played from December 4 to 9 and switch the venue from Birsbane to Adelaide Oval. “Normally a program takes 12 months to work through and I think last year had 72 drafts of it,” Sutherland was quoted as saying in the ‘Sydney Morning Herald‘.

“We’ve basically had to reschedule that in a very short space of time. There’s nothing perfect about what we’ve come up with here but we appreciate everyone’s support and understanding in these tragic and extraordinary circumstances,” he added. Sutherland is overwhelmed by the level of goodwill from his Indian counterparts, the host broadcasters and other stakeholders as CA scrambled to revamp the series.

“I’ve had conversations with chief executives of [our] commercial partners, including broadcasters, who said ‘we completely understand the circumstances you’re in, we should be the last ones you worry about – just get it done and don’t feel any pressure from us’,” he said. “I think that’s been magnificent.” Sutherland also opined that it was ironic that Adelaide, where Hughes relocated to from NSW in 2012 to force his way back into the national team, would be the first Test’s venue.

“It’s not by design that it happens to be in Adelaide, but perhaps there is some special significance with it being Phillip’s adopted home town. The Adelaide Test is traditionally a great Test match, always well supported and it will take on extra special significance next Tuesday when it begins.” he said.

Complete coverage of Phillip Hughes’s Funeral