'Black Caps deeply affected by Phil Hughes' passing'
SHARJAH: For the first time in a long time, the Black Caps took the field on the second day of the third and final Test at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium against Pakistan without their regular Test caps.
The reason for this was that the New Zealand players left the caps hanging on their bats as part of the global #putoutyourbats campaign in the memory of late Australian batsman, Phil Hughes.
New Zealand players took the field in their training caps, some kind of a rarity, as they paid respect to a fellow cricketer with whom many had played with and against.
New Zealand players also wrote the initials of Phil Hughes on their shirts as a further mark of respect for the departed soul.
New Zealand coach Mike Hesson, who spoke at the end of the day's play, said that the players were in an emotional state and wanted to show their respect in every way possible.
"I think it is just that, the players wanted to show a sign of respect and as I said they are deeply affected by Phil's passing. So in their own way they wanted to do that today. And then they also wanted to write Phillip's initials just a further sign of recognition for what we are playing for,'' said Hesson.
New Zealand’s squad at first even contemplated not going through with the rest of the Sharjah Test to show solidarity with the Hughes family, but decided against it following hectic parleys.
“Look, there were a lot of discussions and... lot of discussions took place regarding the Test match continuing. This morning the Test match was continuing, we knew that,’’ revealed Hesson.
