It’s not hyperbolic to say the entire cricket world is mourning the loss of Phillip Hughes, as evidenced by day two of the Pakistan versus New Zealand Test Match being suspended as a mark of respect.
Those who knew Phil personally have penned lovely tributes to the man since the devastating news of his dire situation on Tuesday afternoon.
For fans, like myself, who never met him, we still feel a deep sense of sorrow. We’ve watched his career from our loungerooms and felt like we were a part of his triumphs and despair.
What I’ll remember most is the way he handled the start to his Test career.
Hughes came into the side against South Africa after the retirement of Matthew Hayden at the start of 2009.
Imagine the pressure in trying to take the place of one of Australia’s most prolific openers for that first Test at Johannesburg?
When he received that baggy green cap though, Hughes would have set his mind to emulating every cricketer’s dream – joining the likes of Greg Chappell, Mark Waugh and Michael Clarke in scoring a century on debut.
Instead the nerves took hold and he played an ordinary shot outside off stump to Dale Steyn and was caught by Mark Boucher for 0. Rather than joining that century club he became just the 16th top order Australian player (the first since Andrew Symonds) to score a duck in his first innings.
However, the long history of cricket also shows us that many great batsmen have started their careers in the same fashion. It’s how you bounce back that counts. A theme Hughes would learn all too well.
With Australia 226 runs ahead after the first innings, Hughes quickly got off the dreaded pair and started to relax. His unorthodox technique of taking an initial step to the leg-side as the ball was delivered opened up his scoring options on the offside. That famous flashing cut shot was put to full use as Hughes raised his bat for his first Test fifty, which included 36 runs in boundaries.
His innings only came to an end on 75 after a brilliant catch by AB De Villiers at leg slip.
If that 75 was the birth of Hughes as a cricketer, the next Test at Durban was his coming of age.
His first century was the stuff of legends. He raced to 50, beating his previous effort with 40 of those runs coming in well struck boundaries. When South Africa tried to starve him through the offside he clipped fours off his pads. When they brought on spinner Paul Harris he refused to let him settle.
Similar country kids like Michael Slater were nervous at the best of times in the 90s. Not Hughes, on 93 he hit Harris for six to go to 99. Most batsmen would choose to wait for an easy single to bring up the 100 but not Hughes. He received a similar pitched-up delivery and gave it the same treatment, dispatching it over long on for another six.
Surely one of the few batsmen in first-class history to bring up a century, let alone a maiden century, with two sixes.
He officially did become the youngest (20 years and 96 days) to hit two centuries in the one Test match by scoring 160 in his second dig. The 160 was much more subdued, spending a long time at the crease to show his versatility as a batsman.
After the highs of South Africa, Hughes experienced the immediate lows. Five innings after scoring back-to-back centuries he was dropped during Australia’s failed Ashes campaign.
His struggles after that time have been well documented. In and out of the Australian team, all the while he maintained his positive outlook and that infectious grin as he piled on the runs in first-class cricket.
While his last innings will forever be a tragedy, judging by those who knew him best Phil Hughes would want the focus to be on his 63 not out, and his determination to once again play in the baggy green.
Rest in peace Phil.
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