R.I.P. Phillip Hughes: “I wish he lived, to fight another day”

Phillip Hughes’s demise at the age of 25 has been a major jolt

The cricketing universe has come together in mourning the end of the battle with life for Phillip Hughes, a talented lad who introduced himself to the cricketing arena with back-to-back centuries in only his second Test and that too against the fiery duo of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, thereby becoming the youngest to do so. A farmer’s son, he is yet another example of talent coming up from the most unexpected of backgrounds.

My deepest condolences go to the Hughes family and to his loved ones, but none can reject the will of the lord.

While at this, let’s look at it from the eyes of Sean Abbott. The title of this article would probably sum up his thoughts presently. Imagine you have just started your career, doing well enough to begin with on the international stage, the rhythm seems to be fine and the world is noticing you, deep down dreams are being woven and you feel that you are en-route to preparing yourself to find a place amongst the legends.

Glitter in the eyes, the captain hands over the ball to you to knock off a set batsman, a former teammate. You run in, over the wicket, bowl a nice bouncer, which on any other day would have forced the batsman to duck, giving you the upper hand and the joy to bowl even quicker the next time you run in. But as they say, it’s beyond your control what life has in store for you.

Hughes had started his innings nice and fine, thoughts of a chance to wear the Baggy Green once again at the expense of his buddy Michael Clarke, who is struggling to stay fit, must have crossed his mind a million times the previous night. After all, who wouldn’t feel so when your captain announces to the media that “Hughes is a 100-Test match player”. Batting nicely at 63, oozing with confidence, he decides to confront this bouncer from Abbott head-on.

He was from Australia, after all, and this was like a routine day’s work for the man from New South Wales, having already worked on it after being exposed by Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff in the Ashes in 2009.

However, we all make mistakes, even the best of us. While some misses prove not so dear, some just take us close to that thin line differentiating life and death, and then there are misses that stop the world for your loved ones.

Sadly, the latter has occurred for the 25-year-old Hughes, and it has been nothing short of a misery for his 22-year-old fellow Aussie who cradled him away immediately, fighting tears on the inside, realizing what just happened.

While we all feel bad and sympathize with the Hughes family, we have to spare a thought for Abbott, too. It is even beyond imagination to think what he would be going through presently. The media eagerly awaiting the chance to make a story out of this, madmen demanding his head, and all this with hopefully a number of years left ahead of him.

It was surely just another delivery for him before it hit the 22 yards but the moment it took off, someone’s world was about to change, and I am sure he is fighting a battle in there, far more difficult than for us to ever comprehend. It isn’t like he has broken a jaw or gotten his mate a skull fracture; he has unfortunately played with a life.

The pressure is surely immense, the pangs in the heart having been instrumental in this misery. The question naturally crops up: will he return mentally strong? Imagine the next time he even thinks of bouncing out an opponent, will his arms and mind actually approve the delivery? Will he stumble in that run-up, and will he ever pick up the ball again?

I hope people don’t spoil a young lad’s career and just let him be. I hope they stand by him as much as they stand by the Hughes family. I hope to see Abbott back, strong once again. While for the folks who go out to bat soon, it was a reiteration that irrespective of all the protective gear that you wear, you will but remain a human. So do not take the next ball that you face, for granted!

This article has been contributed by a member of the SK Featured Bloggers Club. It was originally published on the 'Cricket 361' blog here.