Cricket's darkest day

I just spent twenty minutes in a school carpark reading this piece by Peter Lalor about the day Phillip Hughes was struck.

Nov 25, 2024

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PutOutYourBats: Cricket fans around the world put out their bats to pay tribute to Phillip Hughes - ABC News

There is so much detail here because of Peter’s skill at his craft, and the voice recorder that kept rolling. I've spent my whole life deriving such pleasure from sport, in many ways it's given meaning to my life. This day was a tearing in the fabric of my universe. Thoughts with the cricket community today, and with everyone who knew and loved Phillip.

Cricket Et Al

November 25, 2014

It was the cut shots that stood out, of course. Phillip had a commanding drive, but it was the shots through square shone brightest. His square cuts that day had a special quality. In one of Hillyard’s photographs, Hughes is reclining like a limbo dancer, so low that his knee kisses the pitch. His helmet at stump height, his eyes in line with the ball. It would be enough to convince selectors that Hughes was back to his eccentric brilliant best. When he was in these moods, swatting them off middle stump, you knew what Andre Nel meant when he said there were times there was no where to bowl to this young man. You shouldn’t have been able to play that shot to that ball. He was finely honed and fiercely focused, again, after losing his way for a time, but there’s a selector here that day in November and this innings progress has not passed unnoticed…

7 months ago · 20 likes · 11 comments · Peter Lalor

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