CRICKET: Abbott's return to cricket welcomed

While all the focus was on the Adelaide Oval and David Warner's brilliant and emotional century against India, Abbott's return against Queensland was a momentous occasion as he overcame what must have been some crippling doubts in his mind after bowling the ball which tragically led to the death of Phillip Hughes.

Abbott picked up two wickets early on to help reduce the Queenslanders to 6-132 at one stage and the exuberance of his celebration when claiming a wicket showed how much it meant to him to be back out doing what he loved.

Few can imagine how the paceman has felt since delivering the fateful bouncer on November 25.

Visiting the hospital to be with Hughes in his final moments and then travelling to Macksville to be part of the funeral would be incredibly draining on anyone let alone someone in Abbott's situation.

The outpouring of support for the Australian one-day quick since Hughes' passing has been enormous and goes to show how much of a freak accident this really was and how no one at all ever blamed Abbott for what happened.

Abbott wore a black armband and with 'PJH708' emblazoned on his chest, proved he was ready to return to business as usual when he charged in and bowled a bouncer to Queenslander Joe Burns.

The fact the crowd then applauded the bouncer, much like they did at the Adelaide Oval when the first bouncer of the test match was bowled, proved that true cricket people did not want the short ball banned or changed, something that had been mentioned in the aftermath of Hughes being hit.

The cheeky left-hander from Macksville will never be forgotten and the tributes will be ongoing for some time yet but as Michael Clarke said during Hughes' funeral "we must play on" and that's exactly what Sean Abbott did as did Michael Clarke who courageously fought on despite a back injury to record a century alongside Dave Warner and Steve Smith.