Phillip Hughes - Up There and Shining Bright

Phillip Hughes – Up There and Shining Bright: The game of cricket has given us numerous memories that will be cherished for ages. The mellow sound of a willow smashing the white cherry or an everlasting site of the red leather castling the furniture. Emphatic wins and emotional farewells, the game has seen it all. But then there are moments when the clock just stopped ticking, moments when the cricket world came together to mourn a certain demise.

The Sydney Cricket Ground turned numb on a November morning, as the 49th over of the day’s play witnessed an unusual sight. Sean Abbott bowled a short one to Phillip Hughes, batting on 63 he went for a pull shot but missed the ball completely.

He soon collapsed on the ground, as the non-striker and all the fielders came running in and soon he was stretchered to the Ambulance. He fought hard for the next two days in the intensive care unit, may be harder than the afternoon at Kingsmead, Durban; where he notched up centuries in both innings to become the youngest cricketer to achieve this feat in Test history. In the second innings, where he scored a gritty 160, of which around 100 runs came on the off-side.

Hughes was declared dead at the St Vincent’s Hospital. “He never regained consciousness following his injury on the field,” the `doctor said. A smiling face, along with a spirited attitude, Phillip Hughes was on of the most loved cricketer in the southern cross. Ricky Ponting was ecstatic after the southpaw reached his maiden century by towering back to back sixes while Michael Clarke treated him like his very own blood brother.

“I don’t know about you, but I keep looking for him. I know it is crazy, but I expect any minute to take a call from him, or to see his face pop around the corner. Is this what we call the spirit? If so, then his spirit is still with me. And I hope it never leaves.” Clarke said.

A young Phillip, who along with his brother, Jason, played a number of hard-fought matches at the backyard of their farm at Macksville, was good at finding gaps when mattered irrespective of the field setting. His 202 against South Africa A was a perfect example of the temperament he carried in a game.

From Michael Clarke in Australia to Brendon McCullum in Dubai, everyone remembered the young man who slowly found his feet at international cricket. From various cricket grounds to Chhurim Sherpa, who climbed the Mount Everest with Hughes’ kit; the loss was felt and mourned by all.

Today, the unorthodox style of his batting has gone missing. We no longer have the joy of watching a young lad taking on reputed international bowlers, and more importantly one of the brightest shines has gone missing. But somehow, he brought the cricketing world together. Just like the star, forming regions in the interstellar space collapses to form stars, this promising young man is up there and shining bright.