Family as well as teammates remembered late Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes in tribute on Wednesday, this as it has been ten years since he died after being hit neck-wards as he was batting. Hughes, who played in 26 Tests, died from bleeding on the brain after being struck on the head by a rising ball during a domestic match in November 2014 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The 25-year-old was lying helpless on the pitch as teammates rushed to his aid, which shocked the world cricket community and cast a shadow of grief and gloom in calls for making the game safer.
Phillip was a loving, humorous, and infectiously inviting character to be with, his family said in a statement of posthumous remembrance at the 10-year mark after his death.
“He played cricket for all the right reasons and had the ability to take it all in his stride.
“He loved being a part of a team and representing Australia for the game he loved so deeply.”
Former teammate David Warner said Hughes would have been just as good, “if not better”, than himself and fellow batting great Steve Smith.
“I’d like to think he was probably a more complete player than what I was,” he told Australia’s NewsCorp.
According to Darren Lehmann, the Aussie coach at the time of Hughes’ death, the emerging batsman would have gone on to play “120 Test matches, there’s no doubt about that.”
“He would just go from strength to strength, the way he played,” he told national broadcaster ABC.
According to Cricket Australia, Hughes’ memory will live “forever in our hearts,” as it declared he would be “forever 63 not out,” based on his score at the moment he was struck.
The governing has proposed a series of events to commemorate the anniversary, which also coincides with the second Test match between Australia and India starting December 6.
In his honor, upcoming domestic matches across the country will see players sporting black armbands.
