Phillip Hughes death: Playing the first Test against India will let our cricketers celebrate their teammate The Australian flag flies at half-mast at Sydney Cricket Ground. THE game doesn't always have to go on but hopefully it will next week as a celebration of Phillip Hughes" life. The instant reaction when news came through of Hughes death was announced was total numbness and sadness. Newsrooms across the country fell silent. There were tears at school pick-ups. Parents fretted over how to tell their children who a few days ago might not have known who Hughes was but had suddenly been consumed by his story. It just seemed so obvious to cancel what seemed like a totally meaningless Gabba Test match because sport itself seemed so inconsequential. If that is truly what the players want then so be it. The players are the ones whose opinions really matter here. Not television. Not India. Not Cricket Australia. But I hope they play because, as Ian Chappell and Greg Matthews pointed out, playing might be just what they need. As Matthew pointed out on 4BC on Thursday, the players can share their grief together and cry in front of each other if need be. They can celebrate their best moments together, dedicate them to their lost mate, and talk about their own private struggles. If they are off-key we can all understand it. Cricket Australia Chief Executive James Sutherland says Phillip Hughes' death is a freak accident turned real life tragedy which has shattered the cricket community. Cricket Australia sent out a message to grade cricketers around the country to do something special for Hughes this weekend. The tribute can be so much more powerful at Test level. If there are Test players who do not want to play next week then they should be excused without penalty but you sense this will be an all-in or all-out decision. But the bosom of a sporting team can sometimes be the warmest place in the world when a grieving cricketer is struggling to raise his head and look the world in the eye. As devastated as the Newcastle Knights players were when Alex McKinnon was seriously injured this year they were fired up and ready to play in his honour a week later. David Warner and Matthew Wade are distraught as they leave the hospital. The only major caveat to Australia playing next week's Test is that it would be totally inappropriate for the Test to clash with Hughes" funeral. If the funeral is on Thursday, the first day of the Test, then the Test should be put back a day. You could never ask the players to be anywhere else that day than at the funeral. But if the funeral is earlier in the week the players might be best off attending it then going back to work as many Australians do in normal working life. Logistically it's not easy. It might mean attending a funeral on Wednesday then missing training the day before the Test. That's not ideal but nor is it the end of the world for, as we have learnt this week, there are things in life far more important than a game of cricket.