On the first anniversary of Phillip Hughes' fatal blow, Australia's grieving cricketers are sticking closer together than usual.
Hughes lost consciousness when struck on the neck by a bouncer from NSW quick Sean Abbott while batting for South Australia on November 25 last year. He died two days later.
Australian spinner Nathan Lyon says the Test squad is, more than usual, looking out for each other this week.
"We're all pretty close mates so we're always talking about a few different things," Lyon said on Wednesday.
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"It's going to be an important week for us to stick together.
"We always stick together anyway but, especially in this situation, to come out and pay the ultimate respect to Hughesy and his family is probably the biggest thing for us.
"Phil would only want us to go out there and play well and win a game of cricket for Australia.
"We're going to come out and try our best to do that. We want to pay that ultimate respect but also be there and support each other."
Lyon's teammate Mitchell Marsh said while Australian cricketers were preparing for the third Test against New Zealand starting on Friday, the Hughes family was foremost in their thoughts.
"I'm sure we'll talk about it at some stage; obviously, the year has flown by," Marsh said on Wednesday.
"The biggest thing for us is just our thoughts are with Phil's family and that is what today is all about - remembering him and just being there for his family as much as we can.
"Cricket is a small part of life when things like that happen so all our thoughts are with his family today."
