The death of Phillip Hughes will go down as being a tragic day not only for Australian cricket, but also Australian sport in general.
Two days after being accidentally struck on the head by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield match between South Australia and New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground, the 25-year old sadly succumbed to his injury and passed away in hospital on Thursday afternoon.
Making this news all the more tragic was the fact that he would have turned 26 this Sunday, and that he was considered to be a front-runner to replace the injured Michael Clarke in the first Test against India starting next Thursday.
If he were to have been selected for the first match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting next week, it would have been his 26th Test overall but first since being dropped after the second Ashes Test in England midway through last year.
Overall, he played 25 Tests and 26 ODIs, scoring three and two centuries in those respective forms for a grand total of five. Needless to say, he never played the shortest form of all – the Twenty20 format – at the highest level.
In only his second ever Test against South Africa in 2009, he scored his first two centuries in Test cricket, scoring 115 and 160 in the first and second innings of that match respectively.
His third and last Test century came against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2011, where he scored 126.
His two one-day centuries came also against the Sri Lankans during the one-day series in January last year, with scores of 112 and 138 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Blundstone Arena respectively.
It now remains to be seen whether that first Test against India will even go ahead at all. If it does, it would obviously be overshadowed by the tragic death of a man who seemingly had the world at his feet.
Channel Nine commentator Mark Taylor said on the evening news that “at this stage, it’s [the first Test] still on”.
The squad that has been named for the series against India will also probably struggle to concentrate on even playing cricket given the events that are expected to transpire over the next few days.
All Sheffield Shield matches that were to take place this week have been abandoned, with Cricket Australia stating: “Given how players across the country are feeling right now, it’s just not the day to be playing cricket.”
Messages of support are also being sent in the direction of Sean Abbott, the New South Wales bowler who delivered that fateful but totally accidental delivery which struck Hughes on his left ear below the helmet.
Given the tragic circumstances of Hughes’ injury, it’s also great to see such support being given to Abbott, who must also be feeling the grief. He must also never be faulted for such a tragic incident, as he was simply doing his job.
There have been other cases of deaths in live sport, such as that of linesman Dick Wertheim who was on the receiving end of an errant serve from future tennis great Stefan Edberg during a juniors’ match at the 1983 US Open.
There’s also the case of Melbourne Demons AFL player Troy Broadbridge, who lost his life in the 2004 tsunami while holidaying with his recently-wedded wife Trisha in Thailand during that year’s off-season.
He played just 40 games in a career bookended by narrow losses to Essendon – his first game was in Round 8, 2001 in the teams’ first meeting since the previous year’s Grand Final, and his last was the 2004 elimination final loss to the Bombers.
Georgian luge rider Nodar Kumaritashvili lost his life during practice in the lead-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, with the Georgian Olympic team continuing to compete at the Games in honour of their fallen comrade.
Italian rider Marco Simoncelli was killed in an accidental collision while turning a corner in only the second lap of the 2011 Malaysian MotoGP, with his death being met with massive shock all around the racing world.
And just recently Japanese racehorse Admire Rakti collapsed and died shortly after finishing last at the Melbourne Cup earlier this month – he was considered by many to have been the pre-race favourite, having taken out the Caulfield Cup last month.
Hughes’ death is obviously a very sad day for all concerned in the world of cricket. It will obviously cast a huge shadow over not only the upcoming Test series between Australia and India, but also, possibly, the entire summer of cricket.
Thus, don’t be surprised to see Australia try to lift for their fallen star when the first ball is bowled in the Test against India at the Gabba, which starts next Thursday. But as already stated before, the players may struggle to concentrate on trying to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy this summer.
Tributes have also come in from elsewhere across Australia, with AFL boss Gillon McLachlan saying: “It’s one of the worst pieces of news I’ve ever received” and Prime Minister Tony Abbott saying: “For a young life to be cut short playing our national game seems a shocking aberration.”
It’s hard to disagree with Abbott’s comments, however it’s fair to say that in the end, Phillip Hughes died doing what he loved best – playing cricket.
He hailed from Macksville, the same New South Wales countrytown where one of modern rugby league’s greatest players was also raised – Greg Inglis.
And may he rest in peace.
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