By Caden Helmers
Former Australian Test wicketkeeper Brad Haddin will return to the ACT Comets following his appearance on the stand at the NSW Coroner's Court inquest into Phillip Hughes' death.
It will be the second time Haddin, 38, has donned the ACT baggy cap in nearly 12 months after posting a century in last season's corresponding clash.
Brad Haddin on his way to a century for the ACT Comets in November.Credit: Rohan Thomson
This time the 66-Test veteran will take his place in the side as the 11th oldest ACT player in history. His Comets debut came before teammates Tom Vane-Tempest and Ben Taylor were even born.
Haddin will play solely as a batsman, with debutant Vane-Tempest to take his place behind the stumps in the John Rogers-led squad.
Brad Haddin after scoring a century for the Comets in November.Credit: Rohan Thomson
Comets assistant coach Kyle Piper said having Haddin on hand to guide Vane-Tempest through his first taste of four-day cricket would be vital for the Tuggeranong product.
"To have Brad's experience playing international Test cricket, to be able to come back to where it all began for him and share that knowledge with our younger guys is a great opportunity," Piper said.
Haddin's Comets comeback for the Futures League season-opener against South Australia at Manuka Oval will be a welcome distraction from a tough week for Australian cricket.
Grieving loved ones have been left muttering in seeming disbelief at the testimony of a Cricket Australia official in a sign of the deepening wedge between the Hughes family and the cricket fraternity.
Sports medicine and sports science manager Alex Kountouris told the Hughes inquest he "absolutely" denied he knew about the family's concerns regarding the day's play at the time he investigated the fatal incident.
The denial solicited head shakes from Hughes' family.
Hughes' father, Greg, appeared to mouth an obscenity, while his mother Virginia leant forward and cried.
It's not the first time the Hughes family have disagreed with evidence at the inquest into the batsman's death, which occurred two days after being struck by a Sean Abbott delivery in a Sheffield Shield match in November 2014.
The court has heard former Tasmanian cricketer Matthew Day and Hughes' brother, Jason, were told NSW bowler Doug Bollinger said "I am going to kill you" to either Hughes or his batting partner Tom Cooper before the former was fatally struck by a ball.
Bollinger denied the comments, which have seemingly divided the family and players into opposing parties, during evidence on Monday.
All players called to the inquest, including Australian vice-captain David Warner, have said they can't recall the sledge.
Mr Kountouris also told the coroner's court he did not interview players or umpires for the 2015 incident report, which ended up focusing on the response to the injury.
He said information could have been conveyed better when Hughes was injured and there were now medical briefings before each day of play.
But he stopped short of agreeing that it should be someone out in the middle who rings an ambulance in the case of player injury.
"I don't think that would change the process," Kountouris said.
The court has heard the incident was initially assigned the third-highest rating because the man who called the first ambulance did not know if the cricketer was conscious, breathing or suffering serious bleeding.
A second triple-0 call resulted in the matter being assigned the top category and the ambulance dispatched off the back of that call got to the Sydney Cricket Ground before the first.
Greg Hughes cried as Jamie Vernon, who was NSW Ambulance operations unit director at the time, expressed his condolences on Thursday.
Kountouris is expected to be the last person to give evidence.
The inquest will continue with submissions on Friday. with AAP
FUTURES LEAGUE
Monday: Rd 1: ACT Comets v South Australia at Manuka Oval, 10:30am.
Comets squad: John Rogers (c), Andrew Harriott, Ben Taylor, Blake Macdonald, Brad Haddin, Daniel Solway, Greg West, Jono Dean, Mitchell Phelps, Nathan McAndrew, Tom Rogers, Tom Vane-Tempest (wk).