In the wake of the Phil Hughes tragedy, the last couple of weeks has seen Australia and world cricket mourn the loss of a top bloke. Our thoughts have been with those close to Phil and we continue to think of them during this sad time.

Everybody from fans to players has been affected and our group here in UAE has also found the days since very challenging. These days in international cricket players know each other really well and even though Australia is one of our biggest foes, we have a great deal of respect for them as cricketers as well as people.

From a team perspective, I’ve been incredibly proud of the way the group has stuck together. In difficult circumstances it’s important to look after one another and the closeness of this group has never been more evident than through this tough time. With each day that passes, things become a little bit easier and to have a couple of days away from cricket after the last Test has been crucial for all of us.

With those couple of days I think that the team has also been able to begin grasping what it means to beat Pakistan in a Test over here. While secondary in our minds at the time, there were a significant number of individual performances to be celebrated and the overall outcome of a drawn series over here is something special. The way that Mark bowled to get a 10-wicket bag and the knocks from Brendon McCullum (202) and Kane Williamson (192) to lead us to our highest ever total – it was an extraordinary few days cricket.

People have asked how the guys were able to perform like that considering the situation and to be honest I’m not really sure. The guys were asked to go out there express themselves and just get through the next session as best as we can. They did that to an extremely high level and I’m sure they’ll be able to appreciate that a bit more as time goes on. The focus for us now shifts to the shorter formats, beginning with the Twenty20s in Dubai.

With our resting of Brendon, Trent and Tim, it’s an exciting opportunity for us to see some of the players who don't get as many playing opportunities stand up and show us what they’re capable of. Pakistan provides one heck of a challenge over here, but we still have a very talented group and I’m looking forward to some quality performances.

They are on early in the morning NZ time, so get to bed early and set that alarm!

Lastly, I want to say that never has the support from back home been so important than over the last week. The guys have been truly overwhelmed by the messages we’ve seen and on behalf of the team and the management I want to thank you for that.

Thanks for reading

Mike H