The England and Wales Cricket Board has confirmed it will not be officially represented at the funeral of Phillip Hughes on Wednesday.
An ECB representative will be present at the Australia opener’s state memorial service in Sydney, the date of which is yet to be confirmed.
An ECB spokesman said the International Cricket Council’s chief executive, Dave Richardson, would attend the funeral in Macksville on behalf of all affiliated members.
Hughes died aged 25 after being struck by a bouncer in a Sheffield Shield match last week and the England players Sam Robson and Nick Compton, former Middlesex team-mates of Hughes, are believed to be attending the service.
The ECB chairman, Giles Clarke, is currently in Sri Lanka where England are playing a one-day international series.
An ECB spokesperson told the Guardian: “The ECB has been in constant touch with Cricket Australia throughout the days that have followed the tragic death of Phillip Hughes to offer our assistance in any way practical. After consultation with Cricket Australia and the ICC it was decided that the ICC chief executive, David Richardson, was the most appropriate person to represent the ICC member boards at the funeral in Macksville on Wednesday.
“The ECB, though, will be fully represented at the memorial service which is in the process of being planned by Cricket Australia and members of Phillip Hughes’s family. No matter where in the world ECB, its players, board and staff will be their thoughts will be for the Hughes family and the Australian cricketing fraternity.”
Australia’s first Test against India has been postponedto allow players to attend the funeral. The series will now begin in Adelaide on 9 December..
Any members of England’s one-day squad in Sri Lanka would have missed the next two matches on Wednesday and on Sunday if they had flown to Australia for the service.
