Start India-Australia Test series with a bouncer, says Merv Hughes

Adelaide, Dec 5: Former Australian pacer Merv Hughes wants the first India-Australia Test to start with a bouncer as he feels Phil Hughes' tragic death should not make the bowlers wary of using the delivery.

Revised schedule of India-Australia series

Test opening batsman Hughes, 25, died after being struck by a bouncer in the neck last week. Hughes said the youngster's death was an accident which should never have happened but the bowlers should not be so affected that they discard the bouncer altogether.

"The longer it goes without someone bowling a bouncer, the more it's going to be talked about and the more it's going to be on people's minds," Hughes told 'Fox Sports News'.

"I reckon just to clear the air the first ball of the game...should just be a bouncer, and just say 'right, let's get on with business'.

"It might be a callous, uncaring way to look at it but what we've got to take in mind is what happened to Phil Hughes is a tragic accident," he added.

Hughes said the cricket world should follow Australian skipper Michael Clarke's call to continue playing the game competitively to pay homage to the late batsman.

"There's been bouncers bowled over 100 years of cricket and this was an isolated incident. As Michael Clarke said in his speech (on Wednesday), we must play on."

PTI