R.I.P Phil Hughes (1988-2014)

Don't have much time but I am absolutely shattered about this. One of my favourite players taken in such tragic circumstances. Just watching the incident is impossible, knowing he was gone before he hit the ground. I knew at the time, but hoped for a miracle.

Cricket will take a long time to recover.

RIP Phillip Hughes

Xx
 
Phillip Hughes death: NSW State of Origin coach Laurie Daley’s heartbreaking task


  • PHIL ROTHFIELD
  • THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
  • NOVEMBER 28, 2014 11:00PM

BLUES Origin coach Laurie Daley had the heartbreaking task of driving the grieving parents of Phillip Hughes back to their hotel from the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday evening.

Daley and NSWRL chief executive Dave Trodden joined Greg and Virginia Hughes, NSW players and friends at the SCG where they had gathered to mourn the tragic death of a son and a team mate.

Trodden’s daughter Samantha is the girlfriend of Phillip Hughes’ brother Jason.

And Daley has been a close friend of the cricketer for years.He broke from Origin camp in Coffs Harbour this year to drive to Macksville for a beer with Hughes and his dad on a Saturday afternoon.

They spoke regularly on the phone or kept in touch via text messages.

Hughes was always invited by Daley into the Blues dressing room after Origin games.

He was at ANZ Stadium with the Blues players as they celebrated the series win over Queensland earlier this year.

On Tuesday, Trodden and Daley actually went to the SCG to watch Hughes bat.

He spoke to Hughes that morning to say they were coming.

During the lunch interval the three of them caught up and spoke outside the South Australian dressing room in the members stand.

Hughes spoke of how well he was hitting the ball and his hopes of making a century.

Daley and Trodden left the ground for a meeting but planned to return if Hughes got close to his century..Then came the terrible phone call that he had been critically injured.

Daley would not comment when contacted by The Daily Telegraph on Friday night because of his concern for the family and Hughes’ team mates.

He offered to drive Hughes’ parents and his sister to their hotel because understandably none of the NSW players were in any condition to drive.

The family have been staying in a Darlinghurst hotel close to St Vincents Hospital and the SCG since arriving to watch Hughes play in the Shield game.

Both Daley and Trodden will attend the funeral in Macksville next week.


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...artbreaking-task/story-fni3fbgz-1227138935546

- - - Updated - - -

Queen Elizabeth II sends message to Phil Hughes’ family


  • AAP AND NETWORK WRITERS
  • AAP
  • NOVEMBER 29, 2014 2:03AM

THE Queen has sent a private message of condolence to the family of Phillip Hughes following the cricketer’s death in Sydney.

Her Majesty conveyed her sympathies to the 25-year-old’s family on Friday, Australian time.

Hughes died at St Vincent’s Hospital on Thursday — two days after being struck by a bouncer at the SCG.

Flags were flying at half-mast at Australia House in central London in tribute to Hughes and the high commission has been inundated with messages of support for the former Test batsman.

Hughes had stints with three English county sides — Middlesex, Hampshire and Worcestershire — between 2009 and 2012 and left a lasting impression both on and off the pitch.

The MCC flag at Lord’s was lowered on Thursday and flowers have been left outside the home of cricket.

In Australia, NSW Premier Mike Baird has announced a state memorial service will be held at the SCG on a date to be confirmed.

As the cricket community continues to mourn it’s not yet been decided if the first Test between Australia and India will go ahead in Brisbane as scheduled from Thursday.


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...il-hughes-family/story-fni2fnmo-1227138989145
 
Michael Clarke's emotional press conference this morning

[video=youtube;GzAW_IUpB7o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzAW_IUpB7o[/video]
 
First Test at the Gabba postponed

The first Test between Australia and India that was scheduled to start in Brisbane next Thursday has been postponed until an unspecified date to allow the cricket world time to grieve over the death of Phillip Hughes.

With funeral arrangements for Hughes confirmed for his home town of Macksville – midway between Brisbane and Sydney – next
Wednesday afternoon, Cricket Australia has confirmed that it was neither feasible nor fair to begin the Test as originally planned the next day.

Cricket Australia officials have maintained close contact with the Board for Control of Cricket in India since Hughes was critically injured last Tuesday and died two days later as a result of the injuries he received when struck by a ball while batting in a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG.

It is understood that the BCCI, and the Indian Test squad which is currently in Adelaide where a scheduled two-day warm-up match was to have been played yesterday and today was cancelled, have been understanding and supportive of the unprecedented circumstances.

The life and achievements of Hughes, who would have turned 26 tomorrow, will be honoured and celebrated at a funeral service to be held in the Sports Hall at Macksville High School where Hughes was a student until his move to Sydney in 2006 to pursue his cricket dream.

The funeral will be telecast live on Channel Nine, while ABC Local Radio and the Fairfax Radio Network will also broadcast the service live around the country. It will also be streamed live on Cricket Australia’s website and app.

The shock and sadness that has followed Hughes’s death has continued around the world, and was most visible at cricket matches, at spontaneous memorials established around the nation and the globe, and across social media.

At the SCG, where a public memorial service will be held at a date to be confirmed, Australian captain and Hughes’s close friend and teammate Michael Clarke battled to read a message on behalf of the stricken team to their fallen mate.

“Words cannot express the loss we all feel as a team right now,” Clarke said, stopping regularly to breathe deeply, gather his thoughts and attempt to will away the tears that have flowed in such volume since Hughes died at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital on Thursday afternoon.

“To Greg, Virginia, Jason and Megan (Hughes) we are sharing the deep pain that you are feeling.

“Apart from when he was home on the farm with his beloved cattle, Hughesy was at his happiest playing cricket for his country with his mates.

“Things were always put in perspective when Hughesy said: ‘Where else would you rather be, boys, but playing cricket for your country’.

“We’re going to miss that cheeky grin and the twinkle in his eye.

“He epitomised what the Baggy Green is about and what it means to us all.

“The world lost one of its great blokes this week and we are all poorer for it.

“Our promise to Hughesy’s family is that we will do everything we can to honour his memory.

“Last night I asked Cricket Australia if Hughesy’s one-day international shirt number, 64, could be retired, to which they agreed.

“That means so much.

“His legacy of trying to improve each and every day will drive us for the rest of our lives.

“We’d like to thank everyone both here and overseas for the touching tributes to Hughesy in recent days.

“Our dressing-room will never be the same. We loved him and always will. Rest in peace, bruzzy”.


http://www.cricket.com.au/news/hughes-funeral-first-test-postponed-announcement/2014-11-29
 
Another sad aspect is it's happened only a month before Christmas. A time that's about family and friends coming together. Especially since professional cricketers are in a profession where they're away from home so much.
 
No one blames Sean Abbott for what happened to Phillip Hughes, it was a freak accident


  • MICHAEL CLARKE
  • HERALD SUN
  • NOVEMBER 29, 2014 10:00PM

I would like to say some words about Sean Abbott. This is a tremendous young man with a bright future whose life has changed forever by this accident. And that’s what it is — a freak accident.

No-one — not one single person — blames him in any way for what has happened.

He deserves our full support, he will absolutely have mine whenever he needs it, and I know that also goes for the entire Australian cricket community.

Sean, when you feel like getting back on the horse mate, I promise you that I will be the first to strap on the pads and go stand up the end of the net to hit them back at you.

It’s exactly what Hugh Dog would want us both to do.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank the Australian public for the wonderful words of support that Phillip’s family and team mates have received over the last several days.

It’s really brought home to me what I guess I have always known- that all of us who love this game are a family — a big, wide, culturally diverse, passionate family.

Nothing can temper the pain and devastation that the Hughes family are now experiencing.

But I know that they have taken comfort in the extraordinary outpouring of prayers, tributes and deeds that have filtered down to them from all parts of the world.

I also would like to pay tribute to all those people of who touched Phillip’s life and helped him on his cricketing journey in some way.

From his junior team mates, to the coaches up on the north coast who noticed and nurtured his prodigious talent, to the umpires who would have tired of signalling his endless 4’s through point.

They are all part of the wonderful cricket family, and I am sure they are grieving Phillip’s passing deeply.

The best qualities of Australians have come to the fore this week and I personally have been deeply moved.


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...a-freak-accident/story-fnp050m0-1227139133167


 
Just as you're going to get some narks out there who are saying the media coverage has been over the top.
 
Phillip Hughes tribute: Haddon captain Shaun McArthur retires with score on 408


  • FOX SPORTS
  • DECEMBER 01, 2014 1:11PM

A batsman in a club match in Victoria has sacrificed breaking a long-standing record in order to make a touching tribute to Phillip Hughes.

Shaun McArthur, captain of Ballarat club side Haddon, had blasted his way to 220 in a match against local rivals VRI Delacombe.

With the club’s all-time batting record within touching distance, McArthur glanced at the scoreboard and made the extraordinary decision to retire.

On the sideline, his teammates were stunned until they looked at the scoreboard and realised what a thoughtful move their captain had just made.

Haddon was on 408, which was Hughes’ Test number for Australia, and there had been 63 overs bowled.

Hughes was on 63 when he was fatally struck by a ball, and ‘63 not out’ has become something of a catch cry for a cricket community struggling to come to terms with such a shocking death.

Junior club cricketers across the country were encouraged to retire on 63 instead of the usual 50, but McArthur’s selfless decision appears to be unprecedented.

“Everyone walked up and shook his hand,” Haddon club spokesman Vincent McDonald told The Courier.

“It was a chance innings. You can’t plan to have scores like this 220 runs for a player and 408 (total) in the standard of cricket we play.

“Shaun must’ve just noticed the score and thought, ‘That’ll do’.”

Like their cricket-playing colleagues around the country, Haddon and VRI Delacombe players all wore black armbands and observed a minute’s silence in memory of Hughes.


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...ith-score-on-408/story-fni2fnmo-1227140794412

- - - Updated - - -

Phillip Hughes: SCG open to the public for live broadcast of batsman’s funeral


  • SAMANTHA WILLIAMS AND STAFF WRITERS
  • THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
  • DECEMBER 01, 2014 4:35PM

The Sydney Cricket Ground will be open to the public from 1pm this Wednesday for a live screening of Phillip Hughes’s funeral.

Sydney’s home of cricket will host the live feed of Channel Nine’s broadcast on their super screens, allowing fans and supporters to farewell the Australian batsman.

Hughes’s funeral will be held in his home town of Macksville at 2pm on Wednesday.

The SCG was a special venue for Hughes.

“Phillip made his first-class debut at the SCG and played his first Test on Australian soil at the SCG,” SCG’s chief executive Jamie Barkley said.

“He played more first-class and Test cricket at the SCG than any other venue in the world.

“We invite the people of NSW to pay their respects to Phillip by watching his funeral service at the SCG.

“It is fitting that the people whose lives he touched can say farewell from a ground where he had so much success.”

Michael Clarke has already arrived in Macksville ahead of his good mate’s funeral.

The Australia captain arrived by helicopter this morning, landing into town around 11.05am.

The helicopter landed at Donnelly Oval — the pitch at the back of Phillip Hughes’ parents home.

He met with cricket representatives where he expressed genuine concern for the town before heading over to Hughes family.

Clarke has been widely praised for the role he has played in supporting Hughes’ family and representing the Australian cricket team since the tragic incident.

Today, Prime Minister Tony Abbott commended the Australia captain and said the country felt for Sean Abbott whose bouncer delivered the fatal blow.

“Above all we honour a young man who has left us too soon, but who filled every moment of his 26 years with 60 seconds worth of distance run,”

“His death has so affected people because it happened in the midst of life at its most exuberant — he was 63 not out, on his way to a century and a return to the Test team.

“Sport is supposed to engender pride, not grief.”

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten joined Mr Abbott in honouring Hughes, saying cricketers around the world all paused to remember him over the weekend as they picked up their bats.

“Our nation will remember Phillip Hughes for not how he died but for how he lived and for what he loved,” Mr Shorten told the parliament.

“I think that in remembering Phillip Hughes, Australia and indeed the world cricket family has been at its best.”

Meanwhile, NSW’s next Sheffield Shield match is set to be delayed by four days to allow players to grieve.

NSW are scheduled to play Queensland at the SCG on Friday but it is likely the match will not start until Tuesday.

NSW were playing South Australia when Hughes was struck.

Players were spotted in the nets today.

While the change to the Sheffield Shield schedule has given players some certainty, the future of the first Test remains clouded.

The Indian squad who were expected to fly to Brisbane today have remained in Adelaide until the situation becomes clearer.

The Brisbane Test is likely to be put back until January or there is a possibility it could be cancelled if there is no resolution on the date.

Channel Nine would be $8 million out of pocket if the match is cancelled but they are said to be unconcerned by the potential loss in the wake of the Hughes tragedy.


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...batsmans-funeral/story-fni2flhh-1227140794624
 
Don't forget guys that Phil's funeral will be televised tomorrow on channels 7 and 9 from 12:30pm (AEST) 1:30PM (AEDT)
 
Amended Test schedule

09-13 Dec First Test Adelaide
17-21 Dec Second Test Brisbane
26-30 Dec Third Test Melbourne
06-10 Dec Fourth Test Sydney

- - - Updated - - -

I've amended the fixtures thread.

The events of the last week are still sinking in.
 
CA confirm venue swap for ODI tri-series

Change made to allow India time to recover following Test series

In a further reshuffle of the international cricket schedule, the first two one-day international tri-series matches early next year have swapped venues.

Australia were set to open the tournament against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on January 16, but will now play the match north of the border at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The second match between Australia and India will be played in Melbourne two days later on January 18.

The change was made to allow the touring Indians time to recover following the fourth Test in Sydney after it was pushed back three days in the new Test schedule released by Cricket Australia yesterday.

England and India were set to play a warm-up match at Drummoyne Oval on January 12, but that fixture has been moved to Canberra’s Manuka Oval with England taking on an ACT XI before the traditional Prime Minister’s XI clash two days later at the same venue.

India will play a 50-over tour match with the date and venue yet to be finalised.

“In light of recent scheduling changes, we have attempted to minimise the impact on the Carlton Mid ODI Tri Series.

“We appreciate the patience of our fans as we continue to work through the impacts of these changes,” said Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland on the change.

“At the same time, we look forward to an exciting Carlton Mid ODI Tri Series with England and India, which will be a fitting lead-in to the ICC Cricket World Cup commencing in February.

“We thank the BCCI and ECB for their support and understanding throughout this difficult time.”


http://www.cricket.com.au/news/cricket-australia-confirm-odi-tri-series-venue-swap/2014-12-02
 
Jason Hughes scores 63 in return to grade cricket after death of brother


  • PHIL ROTHFIELD
  • THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
  • DECEMBER 14, 2014 10:10AM
477084-5c0830b8-831c-11e4-b7a3-5366c32c384a.jpg


IN the most remarkable coincidence, Phillip Hughes’ brother Jason scored exactly 63 runs in his comeback to grade cricket on Saturday.

Hughes hit two sixes in a Mosman run chase for victory at Drummoyne Oval before being caught on the boundary on the same score his brother finished on.

Incredibly he didn’t know had reached the same score as his late brother.

“I had no idea I was on 63,” he told The Sunday Telegraph.

“There were only five overs to go and we were chasing 40 or 50 to win.

“I had to go for it and had no idea how many I was on.

“It wasn’t until I got out and walked off and everyone was clapping.

“When I got back into the sheds I realised I was on 63.”

Hughes was unsure about playing until the morning of the game, but in the end he knew it was what Phillip would have wanted.

“I wasn’t going to play but I had to get back because Phil would have wanted me to,” he said.

“Everyone’s different and in the end I just felt like playing.

“I wanted to get back to become the best player I can be.”

“At the end of the day it’s just a score and he’d want me to get as many runs as I can.

“He would have wanted me to bring the boys home.”

Although Mosman fell short, he was delighted to hear about Australia’s sensational victory at the Adelaide Oval.

“That’s just awesome,” he said.


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...death-of-brother/story-fni2flhh-1227155479479
 
This is the memorial to Phil which will be erected near the home team dressing room at the SCG

755629-ed184812-9475-11e4-9f9e-62c4c493a0de.jpg
 
Hughes family returns to SCG to honour Phillip at cricket Test


  • PHIL ROTHFIELD
  • THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
  • JANUARY 04, 2015 12:00AM

THE heartbroken family of cricketer Phillip Hughes will pay an emotional tribute to their lost son by attending this week’s Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Grieving parents Greg and Virginia, his sister Megan and brother Jason are flying in from Coffs Harbour tomorrow to witness one of the most poignant occasions in Australian cricket history at the famous old ground.

Injured Australian skipper Michael Clarke will be alongside the family to offer them comfort during his breaks from Channel Nine commentary duties.

Jason, speaking on behalf of the family yesterday, said:

“It’s important for mum and dad because the SCG is where Phil made his professional mark.

“And, of course, to be there for the tribute.

“Whether we stay for all five days will depend on how mum and dad are feeling.

“My sister and I are just trying to be strong for mum and dad.

“We’re doing what we can to support them because that’s what Phil would have wanted.”

The SCG Trust has provided a suite at the SCG for the family and friends to watch in comfort and privacy on all five days of the final Test against India.

As part of the tributes, a permanent plaque will be placed on a wall in the members reserve outside the home team dressing room to honour Hughes at the ground where he tragically lost his life five weeks ago.

Clarke said yesterday:

“They have shown incredible strength over the past couple of months and it will be great to see them back out at the ground where they watched their son and brother score so many runs for NSW, South Australia and Australia.

“It’s brilliant that the SCG will honour his memory with a plaque outside the home-team dressing room.”

Jason said the family had been comforted by Clarke all along.

Cricket Australia is determined to make it a special occasion for the family, who are understandably still struggling after a difficult Christmas.

Former team mates will spend time with the family as well.

Skipper Steve Smith spoke yesterday of the effect seeing Hughes’s family may have on the players and team mates who were on the field trying to save Hughes’ life after he was felled by a bouncer bowled by Sean Abbott in a Sheffield Shield game.

“Hopefully everyone will be okay,” he said.

“We’ve got our first training day today out on the cricket ground so hopefully all the boys can get through.”


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...-at-cricket-test/story-fnpn118l-1227173611930
 
It's the thought that counts but that statue looks more like Rodney Dangerfield than it does Phil Hughes.
 
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