As the pain of Phillip Hughes’ death intensified, it fuelled Michael Clarke’s determination to honour his friend.
That culminated in a dream one-day international swansong for Clarke, who captained Australia on Sunday night to their fifth cricket World Cup title.
Clarke top-scored with 74 in the seven-wicket win over New Zealand.
Walking off the MCG to a standing ovation after his dismissal, Clarke touched the black armband on his sleeve and emotionally looked to the sky.
Hughes’ tragic death has meant a tumultuous four months for Australian cricket.
“Probably the last couple of months for me personally, it’s probably been harder than when he first passed away,” Clarke said.
“I’ve been in regular contact with his sister and his family and I know they would have been watching (the final).
“I guess that’s what makes it so special, that we are still thinking about him.
“We are still talking about him, and we always will.”
But Clarke had to be careful with those intense emotions.
He also had to overcome hamstring surgery to return to the team for the World Cup.
“That’s probably one of the main things I’ve been saying,
skill over emotion will win the World Cup for us, and I think I’ve needed to hear that, as well,” he said.
“I’ve needed to say it out loud because it has been emotional, there’s no doubt about it.
“(I had) to fight my backside off and work as hard as I possibly have to get back into the team, No.1, after surgery, and then I guess to deal with what we’ve all dealt with over the last few months.”
Clarke said everyone in the Australian team deserved great credit for how they had dealt with the impact of Hughes’ death.
“To win a World Cup in front of your home fans, it’s taken amazing discipline from all the players, a lot of hard work, and it’s a fitting reward, like I say, for the pain everyone has gone through,” he said.
Clarke’s black armband has the initials PH on it.
He will wear it for the rest of his Test career.
Vas Venkatramani
Guest
Kane, grief is a personal thing, and is dealt with differently by different people. Since Phil Hughes' death, they have not had any time away within the sanctity of their own privacy to grieve. The downtimes between matches have all been about physical recovery, and not about being with family and loved ones and actually finding peace. Since Hughes' passing, Michael Clarke has had torn hamstrings, a dodgy back, a persistent media character assassination, and a challenge to win a World Cup. None of those would have been as difficult had he not also had to deal with the emotion of losing his close friend. The fact he did everything asked of him speaks impeccably of his mental resolve. If Michael Clarke wants to wear the black armband for the rest of his career, that's his free speech. The same way you can ask that about your own right to freely speak, so is he allowed to wear that armband when he so desires. If it has gone over the top, I highly encourage you to stop listening.
Kane
Guest
What ever happened to free speech?
Kane
Guest
Is it not time to move on? Yes it's sad what happened, but has any other sports star's death been dragged out as long as this has? Black arm bands for the rest of his career (why not get it tattooed on), Warner kissing the ground where he died mid match. Just seems that it may have gone a little over the top in my view.