Sheffield Shield, BBL fixtures rescheduled

Cricket Australia today announced that round five of the Bupa Sheffield Shield and four matches in the KFC T20 Big Bash League have been rescheduled following the death of Phillip Hughes. 

Round five of the Shield was due to begin tomorrow (December 5), but has been pushed back four days to December 9, which now coincides with the rescheduled first Test of the summer, at Adelaide Oval, also beginning next Tuesday.

Pat Howard, CA's Executive General Manager of Team Performance, said the timing between Hughes's funeral and the beginning of the Shield round was simply too close to reasonably expect players to be ready to play.  

“Round 5 of the Bupa Sheffield Shield has been rescheduled to begin Tuesday 9th December," said Howard.

“We could not ask or expect players to be able to take the field the day after farewelling Phillip. 

"This is a difficult time and the players’ well-being is our priority, so we are taking it day-by-day. 

"Grief is very personal and we want to give our players every opportunity to feel ready to take the field, though ultimately we recognise that returning to play is a significant milestone in assisting all players to move forward.

“We are continuing to work with the ACA to ensure all players and match officials are receiving ongoing counselling and support.”

The four affected BBL|04 matches have been rescheduled as a result of the Sydney Test being moved to commence on January 6, 2015.

“The rescheduled Sydney Test has had some flow-on effect to the KFC T20 Big Bash League with four League matches rescheduled," said Mike McKenna, CA's Executive General Manager of Operations.

“The Sydney Sixers v Sydney Thunder match due to be played at the SCG on January 9 fell during the revised SCG Test dates, and accordingly has been moved to 22nd January.

“With 35 matches scheduled in 39 days, plus taking into account the Carlton-Mid Series in January, it was not possible to reschedule the Sydney Smash without impacting other matches, hence the need to reschedule three other BBL games.

“We appreciate Network Ten, Fairfax Radio Network, the venues and the BBL Clubs’ collaboration and cooperation to confirm these revised dates and thank the Australian community for their support and patience,” McKenna said.

Pre-purchased tickets will be honoured for the revised BBL|04 matches, and a refund will be available for those customers with tickets who are no longer available to attend the match on the rescheduled date.

Details for ticket purchasers will be communicated via the relevant ticket agencies, Ticketek, Ticketmaster, and Ticket Direct.

Revised BBL matches

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