Phillip Hughes: A Look Back On His Short But Impressive Career
Phillip Joel Hughes was born 30 November 1988 in Macksville, New South Wales. He was a fantastic all-around athlete, accomplished both at rugby and cricket. His junior cricket career was short because of his high skill level: he played for Macksville RSL Cricket Club until the age of 12, when he moved to A-Grade.
After leading an incredibly successful amateur career, Hughes scored a rookie contract with New South Wales for the 2007-2008 season. His first senior game was played against Tasmania in 2007. With an impressive debut season, Hughes won the New South Wales Rising Start Award, and earned a full state contact for the following season. Since then, Hughes has continued to impress with his ability to score runs and had successful List A and First Class careers.
As you probably know, Hughes was hit in the neck by a bouncer from New South Wales bouncer Sean Abbott. The ball struck an unprotected portion of his neck. The sports-related blunt cerebrovascular injury, called a vertebral artery dissection, led to a subarachnoid haemorrhage, and eventually his death. He died three days before his 26th birthday.
Hughes was friends with many of his teammates and other athletes, and cricket matches in Australia and India have been postponed to allow players to attend his funeral on December 3rd. Many stadiums and teams are paying tribute to the cricketer by putting out bats for Hughes.
Cricket Australia plans to investigate player safety. The CEFO of the International Cricket Council, Dave Richardson, does not believe there will be any action on bowling bouncers in cricket matches.
