Friends, family and teammates of late Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes paid their tributes on Wednesday, marking 10 years since he died after being struck on the neck while batting.
Hughes, who played 26 Tests for Australia, died from bleeding on the brain after he was hit by a ball during a domestic match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 27 November, 2014.
Visuals of a 25-year-old Hughes lying helplessly on the pitch as players rushed to his side shocked world cricket, sparking an outpouring of grief and calls to make the game safer.
Complete statement issued by friends and family:
“Today marks the 10-year anniversary of the passing of our treasured son and brother, Phillip Joel Hughes.
Phillip was a loving, humorous and an infectious person to be around. He always aimed to make those around him smile and enjoy the little things in life, where his beautiful smile would come to life. He shined bright even in the tough times, which is a testament to who he was as a person, and we loved everything about him. He was the light of our lives. Phillip had a profound love for his family and lived his life with respect to everyone around him.
Phillip, the small-town country boy, became an Australian Test, One-Day and Twenty-20 cricketer, where he played on the toughest pitches around the globe, alongside the toughest of cricketers on the world stage, but never forgot where he came from and who helped along the way.
He was a unique individual that took risky and adventurous strides to conquer the dreams he set for himself to become Test baggy green number 408. 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.
The number of stories, laughs shared, phone calls and conversations wouldn’t be able to be told over a quick drink at the local pub, which leads us to having the opportunity nine years ago to create the official biography of Phillip – ‘Phillip Hughes The Official Biography’ that gave us the pleasure of sharing more about who Phillip was. Those pages consisted of his journey from his childhood to his final legacy of 63 NOT OUT*.
10 years on, a documentary – ‘The Boy from Macksville’, will be shared alongside Cricket Australia, who we’d like to thank for supporting this endeavour and each person who worked tirelessly behind the scenes for creating a celebration of Phillip’s life. We hope we have been able to showcase that dreams really do come true and you will enjoy seeing his family, friends and teammates give more of an insight into his career from his baggy blue, baggy red, baggy green and many more moments in-between including unseen footage that can be watched for generations to come.
We hope between the biography and documentary, young cricketers around the world and everyone that was with Phillip along the way, will see the hard working, dedicated, devoted and rare cricketer he was. His extraordinary talent is known by many but his lasting impression of who he was as a person will always be remembered, which makes us extremely proud of him. Phillip was always proud of the younger cricketing generation he met along the way and was always hoping he could be an inspiration, no matter where you were from and that is also our hope.
Cricket gave Phillip the stepping stone to start a new adventure of Four O Eight Angus, named after his proud baggy green test cap number. Black Stud Angus Cattle farming back in our hometown of Macksville, where he loved the land and his animals and would tell anyone who would listen. The business was built on dedication and it’s a testimony to how high he climbed. He loved to symbolise his cricketing journey in his farming career as a tribute, which still stands proud today. Phillip loved Macksville and the local surrounding towns, where he was able to come back throughout his cricketing years and felt right back at home.
We want to share our appreciation to everyone who has respected our privacy and wishes throughout the last decade and continuing to do so at this time. Thank you for being on this journey with Phillip, he loved taking everyone along with him on this ride, living out his childhood dreams.
It is essential for us to express our heartfelt thanks, sincere gratitude and appreciation to our extended family and friends, our hometown of Macksville and surrounding towns, to the wider cricketing community in Australia and overseas and the farming community.
Phillip, we love you, we miss you and we are forever proud of you. We think about you every day and we are so thankful you were ours. Thank you for being the most extraordinary son and loving brother.”
– signed The Hughes Family of Gregory and Virginia, Jason, Danielle, Charlie and Billy, Megan and Curtis.
‘Would have gone from strength to strength’
Former teammate David Warner said Hughes would have been just as good, “if not better”, than himself and Steve Smith.
“I’d like to think he was probably a more complete player than what I was,” he told Australia’s NewsCorp.
Darren Lehmann, Australia’s coach at the time of Hughes’ death, said the promising batter would have gone on to play “120 Test matches, there’s no doubt about that”.
“He would’ve just gone from strength to strength, the way he played,” he told national broadcaster ABC.
Cricket Australia said Hughes’ memory would live “forever in our hearts”, declaring he would be “forever 63 not out” — his score at the time he was struck.
CA has announced a series of events to mark the anniversary, coinciding with the second Test between Australia and India in Adelaide from December 6.
Meanwhile, players in upcoming domestic cricket matches across Australia will wear black armbands in his honour.