Phillip Hughes sends timely reminder to selectors
Roar Pro By Keagan Ryan, 8 Jun 2012 Keagan Ryan is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- Cricket, David Warner, Ed Cowan, Phillip Hughes
Does anyone remember former Australian opening batsman Phillip Hughes?
The seemingly forgotten 23-year-old is currently reaping the rewards from his remodelled technique early in his stint with English county Worcestershire.
The much maligned Hughes has faced severe scrutiny following a scintillating start to his international career before being found out against quality short-pitched bowling.
Hughes burst onto the international scene in South Africa 2009 when he became the youngest player to score a century in each innings of a Test match aged 20 in just his second match.
Since his remarkable innings in Durban, Hughes has struggled to cement his spot at the top of the order for Australia.
Hughes currently finds himself low in the pecking order as he has watched others like Ed Cowan and fellow NSW teammate David Warner leapfrog him to face the new ball for Australia.
Highlighting how much he has fallen from grace since his debut was his startling omission from the Australia A squad to take on the England Lions this winter.
However, initial performances for Worcester show Hughes has improved his game.
Hughes has played two domestic 40-overs a side games for returns of 111 and 104.
In both games Hughes displayed the attacking offside flair so prominent during his clinical centuries in South Africa, in addition to powerful strikes through the leg-side.
Although his on-side shots were not text-book, it was effective with several heaves and cross-bat strikes over and through midwicket.
Hughes also demonstrated his creativity with several deflections either side of the keeper running away for boundaries.
Short bowling did however bring about Hughes’s downfall in his second match against Lancashire.
Former England seamer Ajmal Shahzad produced a terrific bouncer which gained steep bounce and caught the edge of Hughes’s blade before he was able to lower his hands.
However the signs are good for the 23-year-old who has evidently worked hard over the off-season to eradicate the technical deficiencies in his technique.
Hughes still has time on his side to force his way back into the Test side.
Form is the selection panel’s key criteria and Hughes is displaying plenty of it at present.
The Crowd Says (4) | Page 1 of Comments
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- Explore:
- Cricket, David Warner, Ed Cowan, Phillip Hughes
June 8th 2012 @ 5:37am
Viscount Crouchback said | June 8th 2012 @ 5:37am | Report comment
A cunning English ploy to get Hughes back into the Australian team so that Broad & Co can dissect his technique again during the Ashes. I seem to recall that he also scored heavily for Middlesex prior to the 2009 series.
June 8th 2012 @ 9:39am
Bill Larkin said | June 8th 2012 @ 9:39am | Report comment
Maybe not a ploy, but I think the English seamers would be rubbing their hands together seeing Hughes at the top.
June 11th 2012 @ 7:44pm
The Werewolf said | June 11th 2012 @ 7:44pm | Report comment
I remember Hughes was a huge embarrassment to me in 09. I had read he was the bees knees and had vouched for him amongst my North London cricket club buddies only to discover via television amongst these friends that he indeed was not the bees knees and had a technique more like one would expect a praying mantis to have if one were to pick up a bat. My standing became worse when Steve Smith turned up in England with just as many plaudits from the great southern land and an even more ludicrously praying mantisish technique. Both proved great embarrassments to the state of the Australian domestic game, coaching and media in a country where technique is a must on seaming pitches. I do hope Mr Warner can cope next year? He too has a questionable technique but perhaps a greater talent to overcome? We will see.
Scoring heavily for Middlesex when they were in the second division county competition was not a good indicator that Hughes would cope in a test match against Flintoff and co. Indeed he struggled to look better than a second grader. In terms of scoring a couple of one day hundreds that is good to hear. Can he do it on a fresh green top against Anderson, Broad and co?
July 14th 2012 @ 7:27pm
Frankie Hughes said | July 14th 2012 @ 7:27pm | Report comment
Phillip Hughes is too gifted not to succeed. He’ll be back sooner rather than later.
After the Proteas stuff the Poms, Anderson and Broad will be exposed as the club level bowlers they are.