Phillip Hughes Australian Cricketer (1988-2014)
If you are a cricket lover then you would know that
Australia is one of the international cricket teams which has produced many good
cricketers. Whether it is bowling, batting, or fielding, the performance of
Australian Cricketers is good in every field.
As we all have witnessed, over the past decade or two, the Australian team has consistently dominated all formats of international cricket with the strength of such players.
Today we are going to know about one of the brave Australian
cricketers who remained Not Out forever
at the end of his life, Phillip Hughes!
Around 2009, many of Australia's great players retired from
cricket, so their performance was slightly reduced. But at the same time, many
talented players were included in the team and the performance of the
Australian team improved again. Phillip was also among those talented players.
After making his debut in the Australian cricket team,
Phillip Hughes scored many runs with his brilliant batting. Phillip had the
talent to become a great cricketer but unfortunately, he left this world and
this world has lost one good cricketer.
Table of Contents
1. Phillip Hughes and Family
2. Phillip Loved Cricket from his Childhood
3. Domestic Career
4. International Career
5. Batting Career Stats
6. Death of Phillip Hughes
7. Tributes
8. Conclusion
Phillip Hughes and Family
Phillip Joel Hughes was born on 30 November 1988 in Macksville,
New South Wales, Australia. Phillip’s father Greg Hughes was a farmer by profession and used to grow bananas on
his farm and his mother Virginia Hughes,
who is Italian, used to take care of the housework. His elder brother's name is
Jason Hughes.
Phillip Loved Cricket from his Childhood
Phillip was very fond of sports since childhood. He used to
play rugby, football, and cricket in the farmhouse backyard with his father and
elder brother. He started playing junior cricket while studying at St Patrick's Primary School and by the
age of nine, Phillip made his way into the Macksville
RSL Cricket Club under-12 team where he showed his capability by scoring a
century in one match.
At the age of 17, Phillip left Macksville and came to Sydney
to play Grade Cricket. There he
started playing Grade cricket at Western
Suburbs District Cricket Club while studying at Homebush Boys High School.
On his debut in Grade Cricket in the 2006-07 season, Phillip
once again showed his skills with an unbeaten inning of 141 runs. He scored a
total of 752 runs in that season with an average of 35.81, including the
highest innings of 142 runs. His brilliant performance earned him a place in
the Australian Cricket Team for the 2008 ICC Under-19 World Cup.
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Domestic Career
Phillip was part of the New
South Wales first-class team during 2007-08 when he performed well in Grade
cricket. He played his first debut game against Tasmania on 20 November 2007
at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
In that match, Phillip played an important inning of 51 runs
and played a valuable role in the team's victory. He was 18 years 355 days old at the time and was New South Wales' youngest
debutant since Michael Clarke.
Hughes continued to perform well in that season, scoring 559
runs in 7 matches for New South Wales with an average of 62.11, including 1
century and 6 half-centuries.
Playing against Victoria
in that season, Phillip helped New South Wales to win the Sheffield Shield final with a stunning second innings knock of 116.
At the age of 19, that final’s performance made him the
youngest-ever player to score a century in a Sheffield Shield final.
His consistent performances earned him the New South Wales Rising Star Award and
his contract was also upgraded for the next season.
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International Career
The news of Phillip's good performance in domestic cricket
caught the attention of the Australian national team selectors. At that time
Australian cricket team was a bit weakened after the retirement of the team's
best batsmen, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, and the selectors needed
players to fill their gap.
The selectors saw that potential in Phillip and he too was
consistently performing well in his domestic cricket. For this reason, the
selectors included him in the Australian squad for the tour of South Africa in February 2009.
On 26 February 2009, Phillip made his debut in Test cricket at the Johannesburg Stadium against the South
African Board President's XI.
Due to a lack of experience and the pressure of playing the
international cricket match, Phillip was dismissed on duck in the first innings
of that match. But he held his nerve in the second innings and confidently
played a match-winning knock of 75 runs which includes 11 Fours and 1 Six.
Hughes’s confidence was boosted after his 75 runs in the
second innings and the same confidence was reflected in the second match. With
the same confidence, he scored a century in both the innings of the second
match.
After his century performance, at the age of 20 years and 96 days, he became the
youngest Australian batsman to score a Test century and the youngest player
from any country to score a century in both Test innings.
A memorable performance on his Test debut led to Phillip
being awarded the Bradman Young
Cricketer of the Year at 2009, Allan Border Medal ceremony.
After some time Phillip’s performance started to decline and
he lost his place in the team but he made a comeback with his talent and played
some good innings to win the team.
After an up-and-down moment in his cricketing career, Hughes
was included in the 2013 home ODI series against Sri Lanka. He scored 112 runs
in his ODI debut match and become the first Australian batsman who score a century
on his ODI debut.
Batting Career Stats
|
Matches |
Runs |
Avg |
H/S |
100 |
50 |
|
|
Test |
26 |
1535 |
32.66 |
160 |
3 |
7 |
|
ODI |
25 |
826 |
35.91 |
138* |
2 |
4 |
|
T20I |
1 |
6 |
6.0 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
Death of Phillip Hughes
As time went on, Phillip's game improved and he established
his place in the team. Hughes’s international career was about to take a big
leap but a tragic accident took place in his life and that moment was the last
moment of his life.
On 25 November 2014,
the Sheffield Shield match was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground between South Australia and New South Wales.
In that match, South Australia won the toss and elected to
bat first. Phillip came on the ground as an opener, and his good performance
led the team to reach a good total.
Playing on 63, Phillip was unable to play a hook shot
against a bouncer bowled by New South Wales fast bowler Sean Abbott and the Ball hit the unprotected area of the helmet.
As soon as the ball hit he fell unconscious and collapsed on
the ground. He was taken to St Vincent's
Hospital, Sydney, where he underwent surgery, but unfortunately, the doctors
could not save him.
Thus, on the morning of November
27, 2014, three days before his 26th
birthday, Hughes left everyone.
Tributes
On December 3, 2014,
Phillip’s funeral was held at Macksville
High School, in a Catholic ceremony.
After Phillip’s death, Cricket Australia canceled that match,
and a Retired Hurt tag was removed
from his 63 scores, and Not Out was written
permanently in his honor. Thus Phillip
Hughes remained Not out Forever.
Hughes' one-day international T-shirt number, 64, was
retired by Cricket Australia in his memory.
Matthew Wade also has a tattoo in memory of Hughes on his
right arm.
Conclusion
Although Phillip left this world, he showed his ability to
the cricketing world with his batting performances and played several innings
that have been written forever in the pages of history.
The cricketing world will always miss good cricketer like
Phillip Hughes. Such is the life story of late Phillip Hughes and some events
in his cricketing career.
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Read More: Phillip Hughes-Wikipedia
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