Sean Abbott set for return to competitive cricket, named in New South Wales squad

Sean Abbott

Australian fast bowler Sean Abbott was named in the 12-man New South Wales (NSW) squad that will take on Queensland at the Sydney Cricket Ground in a Sheffield Shield match on Tuesday. The young pacer has received supportive messages from across the cricketing fraternity, asking him to stay strong.

NSW chief executive Andrew Jones had earlier said that the decision on when Abbott would return to the playing field was completely the player's choice and no pressure would be put on the young man.

Following the passing away of Phillip Hughes, all domestic matches that were scheduled to take place last week were cancelled. The final playing XI will be revealed only on the morning of the match and players do have the option of dropping out if they aren’t mentally ready to take the field.

NSW captain Moises Henriques has joined several others in stating that it wasn’t Abbott’s fault and that they were trying to help him get out of the tragedy.

"From our point of view, we are trying to expel his name from the tragedy a little bit.I don't think he was any more at fault than any fast bowler who has ever bowled a bouncer in his career," Henriques said.

Abbott visited St. Vincent Hospital, where Hughes was admitted after being hit and was also present at Hughes’s funeral last week. Former England captain Michael Vaughan tweeted his delight at Abbott being included in the squad.

Brilliant News... The whole #cricketfamily are right behind you Sean....http://t.co/k2vFJOErJS.

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) December 7, 2014

Following his return to competitive cricket, the 22-year-old was the top trending topic on Facebook on Monday. But the social networking website made a huge goof-up by mentioning that he is returning to Test cricket, which isn’t true.