Adelaide: Chris Rogers’ straight bat to India paceman Mohammad Shami may not have scored a run from the first ball of the first Test on Tuesday, but the reassuring crack of leather on willow raised a collective sigh of relief from the Adelaide Oval crowd.
The defensive stroke marked the resumption of cricket in Australia, two weeks after the game was brought to a jarring halt by a short ball that struck Phillip Hughes in the head, costing his life and rocking the sport to its core.
Hughes was given a moving farewell last week during the funeral at his hometown in Macksville, New South Wales, but his loss was still raw in his adopted city of Adelaide.
A day of brilliant sunshine began solemnly with a slew of tributes before play. Both teams wore black armbands and the crowd applauded for 63 seconds in recognition of Hughes’ last score before he was felled during a Sheffield Shield match.
The day would end after taking spectators on an emotional roller-coaster, with David Warner’s stirring 145 tempered by grave concerns over the fitness of captain Michael Clarke.
Adored by the public for his leading role in consoling Hughes’ grief-stricken family and team mates, Clarke was given a standing ovation as he walked to the wicket.
In tandem with Warner, he had coasted to 60 before retiring hurt with a lower back injury, casting a renewed gloom over the stadium.
Uncertainty over Clarke’s chances of leading the team for the rest of the four-Test series and the one-day World Cup on home soil next year will inevitably linger.
But compared to the tumultuous days that followed Hughes’ head injury, the captain’s latest setback was merely depressingly familiar rather than shocking.
The largely empty eastern stadium was a reminder the match was hastily arranged after a schedule rejig to allow time to mourn Hughes.
But 25,000, a record first day crowd against India at the ground, still came on a work day, some for only the first session to remember him, and others without leave.
“It’s terribly sad. I saw Hughes play here only a few weeks ago,” said a middle-aged salesman named Craig, who declined to give his surname, fearing his boss might discover he had skipped work.
Younger fans sizzled sausages in the leafy car-park before the toss at 10am local time. The grounds outside the members’ stand were packed with picnickers.
People in the galleries stood to applaud as 28-year-old Warner, who was fielding for New South Wales when Hughes was struck, celebrated his 50 and 100 by raising his head and bat to the sky.
They also rose when he did the same upon his 63rd run, and again when he came off after being caught in the deep.
Warner peered up at the sky one last time as he headed to the dressing room, but spun around before he exited, saving his final bat-waving salute for all corners of the ground.
