- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
This Friday, the first ever day-night Test in cricket history will take place when Australia and New Zealand face off in the third Test at the Adelaide Oval.
Coincidentally, the first day will also mark twelve months since Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes tragically passed away as a result of a head injury he suffered during a Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on November 25 last year, when he was struck in the neck area by a bouncer from Sean Abbott.
Hughes was batting on 63 not out when he suffered the fatal injury, which was to stun not just all of Australia but also the entire cricketing world. They all held their breaths to see if the 25-year-old would survive.
Sadly, he didn’t. Just over 50 hours after being struck near the neck area by the Abbott bouncer, and just three days before he was to turn 26, Hughes passed away aged just 25. A promising cricket career was thus cut tragically short by such an unfortunate freak accident.
His passing was met with shock and reaction from various sporting and political figures, ranging from then-Test captain Michael Clarke to then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott to even an American baseball player with the same name.
Phil Hughes, the American baseball player in question, even sent his own condolences to his cricket namesake just as he heard about his passing, and clarified himself as being the American baseball player and not the deceased Australian cricketer.
Very saddened to hear of the passing of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes. My thoughts to his family. This account is not his however.
— Phil Hughes (@PJHughes45) November 27, 2014
It later emerged that Hughes had just won a recall into the Australian team that was to face India at the Gabba the following week to replace the injured then-captain Michael Clarke.
His untimely death subsequently caused havoc on the cricket schedule, with the first Two Tests rescheduled to allow the Australian players to not only mourn the death of their much-loved teammate, but also attend his funeral in his hometown of Macksville on the New South Wales mid-north coast.
The who’s who of Australian sport, ranging from former captain Ricky Ponting to rugby league legend Greg Inglis, were those to turn out to bid their farewells. Many players from the Indian cricket team were also there to pay their respects.
It meant that the Gabba and Adelaide Oval Tests were to swap places on the calendar, with the Adelaide Test being held between December 9-13 and the Gabba Test between December 17-21.
Perhaps the second biggest story to come out of this tragedy was the leadership of Michael Clarke. Clarke was one of Hughes’ closest friends and he repeatedly paid tribute to “his little brother” during the memorial. He did the same in the subsequent Test series against India, and in the Cricket World Cup which Australia won against New Zealand in March this year.
Clarke said that he will be thinking of the players who will represent Australia in the third Test against New Zealand starting this Friday, the first anniversary of Phillip Hughes’ passing.
“It’s going to be a really tough day and I think the guys playing are going to do it tough,” he said. “I think it’s really important that we continue to support the Hughes family and show our respect there.”
Back on topic now, and there’s no doubt that the one-year anniversary of the tragic passing of Phillip Hughes will cast a shadow over the first ever day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval starting this Friday afternoon.
Low-key tributes have been planned for the first day, which as already mentioned falls on the first anniversary of the tragedy, whereby the Australian and New Zealand Test teams will sport black armbands for the day in his memory.
Elsewhere, the New South Wales and Queensland teams will do likewise in the first day of their Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, which also starts on Friday.
It would also be the first match of any format to be played at the ground since the match between New South Wales and Victoria was abandoned earlier this month due to an unsafe playing surface.
As far as the Trans-Tasman Shield is concerned, Australia is set to regain the shield regardless of the result, the first Test at the Gabba having gone their way and the second at the WACA ending in a draw.
Otherwise, an outright victory or another draw will see the Aussies win the shield outright for the first time since the 2010 series in New Zealand. But for now, the thoughts of many of the players will be on Phillip Hughes ahead of the one-year anniversary of his tragic passing this Friday afternoon.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.