AS I stood in the centre of the SCG on Thursday night, at the spot where my little brother played his last shot, I struggled to comprehend how this tragedy could happen to one of life’s true characters and gentlemen.
I resolved then and there to write this tribute to Phillip Hughes.
I want to use the occasion of this, his 26th birthday, to shine a bit more light onto Phillip — the man he was and the life he led — which will help explain the extraordinary outpouring of support from inside, and outside, the world cricket family.
His cricketing achievements — of which there were many — really play second fiddle to the human qualities that he exhibited.
Loyal to a fault, eternally optimistic, kind hearted, wicked sense of humour, a child like verve for life … I really could go on and on.
Sitting with his parents Greg and Virginia, sister Megan and brother Jason over the past few days it struck me that above all, he was a family man.
Clarke and Hughes at the SCG
Clarke pictured with Hughes
“…even as we serve others we are working on ourselves; every act, every word, every gesture of genuine compassion naturally nourishes our own hearts as well. It is not a question of who is healed first. When we attend to ourselves with compassion and mercy, more healing is made available for others. And when we serve others with an open and generous heart, great healing comes to us.”
ONE TUSK 