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Like everyone else interested in cricket, I was totally stunned to hear the news this morning that Phil had lost his life.

Difficult to find the words at a time like this. I've started this thread so that people can pay tribute and post about his tragically short cricketing career.


RIP Phil.

I'm rally shocked. I was a big fan of fabulous Phil, and felt that his recall to the Test XI was imminent. The papers here in Oz will be full of coverage. It will be interesting to see what happens with the first Test. I wouldn't be surprised to see a few players pull out. I guess a tribute game will be played at some point. I guess in life, you just never know, sometimes. This young man had the world at his feet. I rally feel for Sean Abbott, though. He must be mortified. There is no way he could ever be the same player again. And I'd say that Brad Haddin and Michael Clarke will be reassessing their careers too. It will hopefully galvanize others, but players from SA & NSW will surely be deeply affected, as is the whole cricket world, really. For me, I guess I'm still taking it in.

When Hughes first came on to the Test scene, I thought that a star had arrived. His baptism of fire in South Africa yielded two centuries in his second Test, becoming the youngest player in Test history to achieve that feat. Of course I wanted him in the Test line-up sooner, on account of Matthew Hayden having reached the point where he was sadly past it. I was at the MCG when Hughes made his ODI debut, scoring a century against Sri Lanka. Before the emergence of Aaron Finch, I thoght Hughes would open with Warner in the World Cup. Not Now though.

It's a good idea to start this thread. I thought of doing the same thing, but couldn't bring myself to actually do it. I guess now the game will go on, but some, it will never be the same again.

RIP Phillip Hughes

Tribute from the Adelaide Oval

RIP. This is a tragic event if ever there were one.

The worst day in the history of the sport. Absolutely devastating.

Just woke up to this. I was so sure he'd pull through, I just can't believe it.

RIP Phil Hughes.

Condolences and deepest sympathy. A tragic loss of a young and talented life, for his family, Australia and the whole worldwide cricket community.

Honestly can't believe it. RIP Phil. The only cricketer in history to average 40+ across all three formats.

Great tribute here: http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/c ... 03789.html

I don't believe in sugar coating for the benefit of the dead, I have seen some rather generous articles about his test career that simply make me feel they are not genuine, and were not written by cricket lovers, rather by normal journalists crossing over into cricket because of a big story.

The truth is, Hughes was a hard guy to sum up. There was talent there, bags of it. There was also problems, and bags of them. The biggest crime seems to be the fact that we will never know the ending to the story, that Hughes' never got the chance at a cricketing redemption. Langer, Hayden, Waugh,, Marytn.... all brilliant players who know what its like as youngsters to be one step away from being forgotten, all who had the raw talent that shone in the end. Hughes was probably more talented than any of them, his life story and cricketing journey was incomplete.

I have said bad things about Hughes, all of them about performance and technique, never personal. This maybe well known on here, GIP bore the brunt of some serious debates about his talents. Yet, sometimes we are harsher to those we respect the most, and there was something infuriating about Phil Hughes that I could never get past. Learn to get out of the way of the short ball, learn how to play a leg glance, and you could achieve anything. There are certainly not many players I have seen who punish the off side more than he does, and if there was anyone, they would be names of the very best players I have seen.

To be fair to the lad though, he was 25. There was signs at Trent Bridge that maturity was coming, there were signs even against Pakistan at Sydney a few years back, after being dropped the first time, that he was willing to see a few more balls and understood what he had to more as an opener. He was heading the right direction, whether or not quick enough, we don't know.

I guess from a cricketing lovers perspective, he was always a bit of a victim. It always felt that after the initial awareness of his talents, and the failure of it being delivered 100%, he cut a little bit of a down beat character in my mind. The kind of person that, even as an enemy and rival fan, the universal romance of redemption meant that deep down you wanted him to prove you wrong, you wanted him to score a few before getting out, you didn't mind if he became brilliant and did it against your team.... as a sports lover, that's what we live for, to be entertained by skill and technique, and he had all of that in abundance. His humbled upbringing and rawness only added to that aura.

In 10, 20 or 100 years when people stumble across the name Phil Hughes, they will never see the complete picture. Its the death of his chance to prove himself, to prove his legacy, to never have a chance to silence his detractors, that is the tragedy for me, or when any young person before their time passes.

There memories stick out about Phil Hughes career.

1. The 160 vs South Africa - The saffers had already conceded a hundred to him in the first dig, and went after him fiercely. He stood up to the good balls, and punished anything that was a hint of filth. He attacked the spinner out of the attack by confidently hitting him over his head. In the 90's, the Saffers really made him dig in for his runs, but he got there, and then the fun and games audacious hitting started for the declaration. An innings that showed grit, flamboyance and real quality.

2. His maiden hundred in the Pura Cup - Youngest guy to score one in the Pura Cup Final, I remember thinking watching the highlights of his innings "ah F**K, not another one". On a pitch taking spin and bouncing a little varied, Hughes played a positive blinder in domestic cups top match.

3. The first few overs of the 2009 Ashes were the feeling of inevitability was still present for a brief period until we got him out. The thought for those first 15-20 overs, the way he punished a few loose balls with authority, made you worried as an England fan for a series we weren't suppose to lose!!

Thoughts to his family. RIP mate. Days like today, we mourn as a cricketing community, and not as England or Australia fans.

Shocking and tragic news. I'm mostly thinking about family and friends, and how this will hurt them, and hope they recover from this seemingly random death. Sympathy to the Australian cricket community who will feel closer to this.

As a cricketer, Phil Hughes will be the boy who showed prodigious promise against South Africa, and who played afterwards in the shadows of those feats. We have an incredibly sad conclusion to that life. We can say he made an impression on the world, and he was successful enough at the career he devoted himself to, to be known around the world. But also that the dream brought his death. And if that's a tragic irony, how much more the way that he finally escaped being remembered as the player who succeeded so indelibly against South Africa.

Terrible news, RIP.

This made the lead story on the USA's own domestic edition of news channel CNN. I guess even people who don't know cricket are shocked and appalled by this.

Shocked to the core this afternoon. Australia stands speechless after this dreadful loss today.

This has hit the cricket community here very hard. Mood at our club very subdued at training this evening. Taken me until late tonight to come on and add my respects (thanks Aidan for setting this up) . Feel for his family and close friends...and also for young Abbott . RIP Phil ...