Phillip Hughes - Phillip Hughes Death - Australian Cricketer

Phillip Hughes - Phillip Hughes Death - Australian Cricketer

Phillip Hughes - Phillip Hughes Death - Australian Cricketer

Phillip Hughes: Country kid

Who Moved a Nation

Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting. David Warner and Shane Watson. Simon Katich and Justin Langer. Brad Haddin and Matthew Wade. Darren Lehmann and Brett Lee. These strong men of Australian cricket have often had very little in common. Their competitiveness, pride and differences of opinion have caused plenty of arguments and disagreements. Apart from the baggy-green cap, there was often only one thing that they all agreed on: Phillip Hughes. He was a very close friend of Clarke's, yet a pupil of Ponting, with whom he shared a manager in James Henderson. He was a friend and opening partner for each of Warner, Watson and Katich - three more contrasting characters it would be almost impossible to find. He was equally happy in the company of Haddin and Wade, two men of different states and generations but shared desire to keep wicket for their country. And he was a student of batting mentors as broadly churched as Lehmann, Langer, and his personal coach, Neil D'Costa. For all their many divergent views, these men shared enormous belief in Hughes. A belief that he would soon bloom into one of Australia's most prolific Test batsmen, fulfilling the promise he first demonstrated on a precocious tour to South Africa in 2009, having found a more sustainable style of batting. This belief is also why the grief about Hughes' death at the age of 25 is so universal, and so shattering. Hughes always had time on his side, or so we thought.