Philip Hughes: Australia and India's first test delayed for funeral

Four-match series was meant to start on Thursday

The first Test between Australia and India will now begin in Adelaide a week today, following the death of batsman Phillip Hughes last week.

The four-match series should have begun in Brisbane on Thursday, but that Test will now start on 17 December. The traditional Melbourne Boxing Day Test is unchanged, but the Sydney Test has been put back three days to 6 January.

Hughes, who would have turned 26 last Sunday, died on Thursday after being struck on the neck by a ball during a domestic Sheffield Shield match.

The funeral service will take place tomorrow in the sports hall of Macksville High School, which Hughes attended, and will be broadcast live in Australia and on big screens at the Sydney Cricket Ground and Adelaide Oval.

The Cricket Australia chief executive, James Sutherland, said of the rearranged fixtures: “It’s very clear that playing a Test right now is just too soon.”