NSW teenager Phillip Hughes is riding the Michael Clarke highway to cricket stardom, complete with a fake diamond stud earring.
Hughes will become the second youngest NSW player in 30 years to debut for the Blues when he takes on champions Tasmania in the Pura Cup clash at the SCG starting Tuesday.
The opening batsman will be 18 years and 355 days old next Tuesday, 111 days older than Clarke when the current Test batsman made his debut back in 1999.
And the comparisons with Clarke are hard to ignore.
He has the bling – although Clarke wears a real diamond.
Hughes has the blond, spiky hair.
Both are coached by Neil D’Costa and play for Western Suburbs in grade cricket.
And when asked for three words to describe himself, Hughes wrote “clothes, hair, mirror”.
In his first press conference today, Hughes at least resisted the Clarke urge to talk about himself in the third person.
Hughes may be a left-handed batsmen – Clark is right – but he does share the same dogged determination of his predecessor.
“I did have a small goal to actually play this year,” said Hughes of his first-class debut.
“I did really want to just play the one game and it’s come so soon at the age of 18, I’m very thrilled and very excited.
“I always wanted to be a professional cricketer.
“I will take it day by day, train hard with the squad and do the best I can with the team.
“I’m not looking too far ahead in the future, more just step by step.”
Born and raised in the small NSW north coast town of Macksville, Hughes is proof that country cricketers can break through to state level.
He only relocated to Sydney last year, but his strong form for the NSW second XI and standout performances with the Australian under-19 side has seen him fast-tracked into the Blues side at the expense of Nathan Hauritz.
But is he feeling the pressure ahead of his debut as a rookie coming into a NSW team flying high at the top of the Pura Cup table?
“I guess not, at the end of the day age doesn’t matter,” he said.
“You still have to go out there and do the job. No matter what the circumstances are you still have to go out and do it and perform well and that’s what I’ll be looking at doing.
“It’d be nice to get runs and play the best I can for the team. I will do my best and hopefully get a win.”
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