Michael Clarke shows leadership off the field in times of tragedy

Michael Clarke

The ambulance carrying Phillip Hughes to the hospital had just left the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) when the press box received a call. It was none other than Australian captain Michael Clarke, a close friend of Hughes, who wanted to know which hospital the left-hander was being rushed to.

Hughes was admitted to the St. Vincent’s hospital in Sydney and Clarke was at the hospital not long afterwards. The 25-year-old was in an induced coma when he arrived.

The 33-year-old was himself recovering from a hamstring injury and his participation in the first Test against India, starting next week was in serious doubt. But Clarke put his own injury aside and was present with his friend Hughes for the entire duration. Not only was he by the injured cricketer’s side but he also was a pillar of support for Hughes’s parents, Greg and Virginia, his sister Megan and brother Jason.

Later on, several of his other teammates, the likes of Steve Smith, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, David Warner etc joined in to support Hughes and his family in these traumatic times. Hughes also found support coming his way from other parts of the country with the likes of Aaron Finch, George Bailey, Matthew Wade, coach Darren Lehmann, Ricky Ponting and Peter Siddle travelling from their respective hometowns to be with him and his family.

However, it was Clarke, who was present at every moment, constantly providing support to his friend’s family and after a long battle, when Hughes was declared dead by the doctors, Clarke read out a statement with Cricket Australia (CA) Chief Executive James Sutherland and CA doctor Peter Brukner by his side. Clarke’s wife Kyly looked on from the side as he read the statement, not once looking up at the media gathered over there.

“This statement is on behalf of Greg, Virginia, Jason and Megan Hughes. We're devastated by the loss of our much-loved son and brother Phillip. It's been a very difficult few days, we appreciate all the support we've received from family, friends, players, Cricket Australia, and the general public.

“Cricket was Phillip's life and we as a family shared that love of the game with him. We would like to thank all the medical and nursing staff at St Vincent's Hospital and Cricket NSW medical staff for their great efforts with Phillip. We love you."

After reading it out, he left the room, following which Dr. Peter Brukner took over and praised Clarke’s show of support and said that he wasn’t sure if Hughes’s family would have been able to handle the situation, had the 33-year-old not been there.

"There's one person I'd like to pay particular tribute to, and that's our Australian captain Michael Clarke.

“Phil's always been like a little brother to Michael, and Michael's efforts over the last 48 hours to support the family ... the family were obviously going through a difficult time, but I'm not sure they would have coped without Michael's assistance,” Dr.Brukner said.

“I was just enormously impressed at the work that he did, and the genuine care and love that he gave to the Hughes family. I think he deserves enormous credit," he added.

Here’s a video of that press conference.