Sean Abbott: Why I’m whispering bravo for cricket’s most sensitive comeback

Sean Abbott at Manuka Oval in his return to the Australian team

I don’t wish to embarrass Sean Abbott. I don’t want this to be awkward or uncomfortable for him. I completely understand it’s probably something he’d rather let through to Alex Carey. But watching him bowl with unyielding effort if limited success in his return to the Australian team on Thursday night … I marvelled at the bravery of the youngish bloke. I suspect that behind the scenes, he’s been as courageous as it gets.

It was Abbott who sent Phillip Hughes to the pavilion. Accidentally. Shockingly. From a ball no different to a thousand others. Medium-fast, short. Hughes would have liked the look of it. One to be flat-batted far, far away. But Hughes’s last swing was an air swing, and he was struck on the worst possible spot. Bad areas. Plumb out of luck. A cruel turn of events for Abbott.

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His situation ever since has been agonisingly sensitive, to the point the topic never gets mentioned. Hence the apprehension in writing this. But his long-term response has been sensational and deserves salutation. Who knows what he’s been through? Not you. Not I. All we know is that six years later, he’s made Australia’s Test, ODI, T20 and Australia A squads. I’m not sure if I should whisper this or shout it from the rooftops but … bravo.

Steve Smith and David Warner have dedicated umpteen memorable Australian innings to Hughes. They reach triple figures and point to their little mate sitting up there on his Esky in the sky. But they’ve been the lucky ones. They’ve had an outlet. High-profile and very public opportunities to acknowledge their fallen mate. Abbott’s been sent back to the anonymity and silence of club and state cricket. He’s toiled away manfully.

If you take Smith’s obvious heartache … imagine him also having to get his head around the fact he was the bowler when ­Hughes went down. That’s the shock existence Abbott has found himself in.

You could hardly fathom the nights he must have had. Who would’ve blamed him for never being the same again? Who could’ve blamed him if he quit? For being forever rattled? For bowling nothing but half-volleys? Hughes lost his life. Abbott had to rebuild his. He was broken at 22 years of age. No part of his revival would have come easily. His first net session, his first short ball, his first match back at the SCG for NSW … all of it would have been tough. Perhaps it all still is.

No one ever talks about it, least of all him. The tribute to Hughes at 4.08pm last Friday, when the crowd paid its respects to Test player number 408, came when Abbott was in the Australian dressing room. The room with Hughes’s plaque on the outside wall.

After waiting six years between ODI appearances, he made it back. Then his performance against India summed up his career. Going great. Calamity struck. Not the result he was after.

Then an uncertain future. He had 1-37 from seven overs at Manuka Oval. A very great start. But he was subsequently pounded, finishing with 1-84 from 10.

The final spell was a horror show. I waited for a fairytale performance with the bat. He came out with Australia needing 35 runs to win. Five overs and three wickets were in hand. It was possible. He gloved a hook shot and departed for four. Australia lost. Not remotely the desired result, personally or professionally.

The highs and lows of cricket, eh? He’s experienced more than most. Six years ago, he was the most promising young all-rounder in the country. He made his Australia ODI debut in October 2014. The following month, Hughes went down and stayed there. Abbott played three international T20s without cementing a place. He made national squads, getting injured or being overlooked from final XIs. Moving forward again, consistently knocked back again.

Now aged 28, he won last year’s Sheffield Shield with NSW. He won the Big Bash with Sydney Sixers. He made a flying start to this domestic season, with bat and ball for the Blues, to crack the Australian squads in all formats. That’s cause for applause. He made it back.

What now? He’s behind Moises Henriques and Marcus Stoinis but especially Cameron Green, the biggest ship since The Big Ship, Warwick Armstrong, as an Australian all-rounder.

Opportunities might be few and far between. His bloated figures on Thursday night might have earned him a spell from the opening T20 in Canberra on Friday evening. But he’ll be right. Worse things have happened.

I suspect his most courageous moments are those none of us have seen. He’s among the toughest of Australian cricketers. I imagine Hughes is getting up off his Esky and applauding loudest of all.