Phillip Hughes Dies - RIP

First topic message reminder :

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/phillip-hughes-dead-australian-cricketer-dies-after-bouncer-at-scg-20141127-11vcpt.html

Phillip Hughes died this afternoon as a result of the injury he sustained after being struck by a ball on Tuesday afternoon.
Tragic news.  I'm sure our thoughts and prayers are with the Hughes family and also young Sean Abbott.

As an Australian, I feel he was one of the few cricketers I really liked - so talented and yet so kind and humble towards others.

So sad... I'm at a loss for words.

The overwhelming support for him all over the world in the last few days is so greatly appreciated and something we will never forget.
On behalf of my fellow Australians I would like to thank them for their deep concern and kind words.

R.I.P. Phil.  
We will miss you very much.

The Loaded Dog wrote:Cricket bats everywhere in windows (of shopfronts and houses) here today.
Some amazing emotion out there. It's feels very unifying.... it goes beyond cricket even.

Thats a great touch.

Great for a nation to come together after the loss of one their own.

alfie wrote:It is hard , raf.  At the level I now play , we often have very young lads playing with the seniors , something I always welcome.  And we are very safety conscious of course. But this week I find myself wondering if all of the parents will be entirely happy allowing their kids to go up against adults in the afternoon. And what I will do with our batting order if the opponents have a quickish bowler in their midst...
This accident was a freak , of course.  And in truth cricket is probably safer than cycling to school.  But it is difficult to take that logical view right now.

Edit :  Maybe this better moved to the other thread , LD ?

Not sure I understand, alfie - do you mean move your above post to raf's "So... what happens now thread"?

Yeah ...maybe doesn't matter , just wondered if it were better to keep this one for purely tributes , if you see what I mean...
But then you'd have to move raf's , too , or it wouldn't make sense...never mind.
Confess to being a bit unsteady on this whole thing still.

westisbest wrote:

The Loaded Dog wrote:Cricket bats everywhere in windows (of shopfronts and houses) here today.
Some amazing emotion out there. It's feels very unifying.... it goes beyond cricket even.

Thats a great touch.

Great for a nation to come together after the loss of one their own.

Happening here now (I see on Facebook)

That's OK. I think most of us feel the same.

I can leave it here and copy your post over to Raf's one if you like... but I would then have to pull some of his comments off here for your comment to make sense on the other thread.

Maybe best leave it here - it is related to the topic as well.

Good luck tomorrow. Enjoy yourself and play your natural game, mate.

Couldn't get a good picture but reading keeper Adam federici placed his bat in his net ahead of the warm up here. Very poignant

So nice to see the sympathy extend across to football and rugby.

Even Elton John dedicated "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me" to Phil Hughes and Sean Abbott at a concert in Munich of all places.

That was such a nice gesture.

Today would have been his 26th birthday. Had another cry watching Michael Clarkes emotional statement. Couldn't have been easy.
Happy birthday Phil

"@SteffanJones105: In Oz a young lad today scored 37 for his club then walked off. He walked off & said he finished the innings off for Phil Hughes. Awesome"

That's awesome

An Israeli cricket umpire has apparently died after being hit in the face/jaw by a cricket ball.

That is a shame, so soon after Philip's untimely passing. I'm not sure what to do now. That's four cricket deaths in two years. Is it time to give umps a helmet as well?

T1 will be moved now to be squeezed between T2 and T3

which means more time now before the first test starts...India's gotta find a way to play another practice game somewhere before the start of Adelaide test

Thoughts with Phil Hughes's family and also Sean Abbott.

An excellent post by Mat on the previous page.

Also have to say a word for Michael Clarke who has acted admirably through this tragedy.

Yeah, Clarke's been a warrior this past week. Been the picture of virtue during a most difficult time. I especially found his letter to Abbot, where he told him whenever he feels ready, Clarke will be the first to face him in the nets. Can't have been easy losing your brother, and he's been a man amongst men in this week. It's an experience I wouldn't wish on anybody, as I'm sure it's aged him quite a bit. Hard to see Abbot coming back though. Or at least coming back to the levels which earned him an Aussie cap. Almost impossible for him to regain the required levels of aggression

If anybody can get through that Clarke speech without shedding some serious tears they must have a heart of steel.

Boy what a man he has been this past week

Ive only caught the last bits. It looked emotional enough reading it online. But seeing the way it took almost everything out of him to get through it might have pretty much restored my faith in humanity. Michael Clarke's lost a brother this week, a hole which can never be filled. But by god has he gained the respect, and love of the sporting world.

I hope now, Hughes' family can mourn in peace, away from the media. Clarke's lost a good mate, and has acted admirably, but they've lost a son/brother.

Of course they will. There'll be a new story, eventuallyand from what I've heard, Macksville is rather far in the world to be going back once the story quietens. Bigger will be how the media treat Sean Abbot. I'd hate for his name to be suffixed with "aka the guy who tragically killed Hughes" if he does in fact continue playing cricket.