RIP Phillip Hughes

It's particularly sad when someone is on the brink of fulfilling their potential – only last week Michael Clarke said that Hughes "would play 100 Tests" – and he was also, from all accounts, a very decent young man as well. Now he will always be "63 Not Out".

Flags are at half-mast at cricket grounds all over the country, and I was particularly touched to see that even Lords has done the same.

I love the game, but I hope that this tragic accident may lead to some soul-searching amongst players and coaches about the increasing crowd-pleasing aggression that has crept into the game over the past decade. Brett Lee said this week that "nobody ever intends to hit a player's head" – well sorry, Brett, but in your case, I'm not so sure. I've seen you in action too many times. I hope that Phil Hughes' death may bring a positive result in the return to a more civilised game.

Vale, Phillip Hughes – one of the good guys, and you will be missed.

...I'd say that fast bowling may have been more aggressive in times past, especially with the great West Indies teams of the 70's and 80's.

When the England team in the 1930s, under Douglas Jardine, couldn't get Don Bradman out, they resorted to a technique of aiming for the body, specifically to intimidate the batsmen, forcing them to try simply to deflect the ball rather than play it. It was eventually outlawed, but bowling at the head serves the same purpose - most batsmen will duck rather than try to deflect or play the ball.

Brett Lee did it, and in his case it was more often than not in a fit of temper; he got very angry when he couldn't get a batsman out, and would start hurling the ball towards the head. It was probably even more dangerous because he was always angry when he did it.The late Peter Roebuck gave it as his opinion that Lee himself should be banned, rather than the bowling tactic.

Mitchell Johnson has now built a career on it, and although it works for Australia, I don't get any pleasure from watching him. And probably young Sean Abbott was trying to emulate Johnson's tactics when it went so horribly wrong. It will be with him for the rest of his life.

You can't have helmets that cover the head and neck so comprehensively that the batsmen can't see or move their heads properly, and it seems to me it would be more sensible to ban bowling at the head. Once, warn the bowler, and the second time ban him for the rest of the match. They'll soon learn. It won't make for boring cricket - bowlers like Siddle and Lyon don't do it and manage to get their fair share of wickets, and although he was a unique spinner with a totally different style, Shane Warne also never resorted to intimidatory tactics. Batsmen just knew he would get them eventually, and he usually did. Still made for great cricket.

It's also worth remembering that he had a reputation as being susceptible to the short ball. England's bowlers found this out and used it to great effect on the 2009 Ashes tour. Shaun Abbott was using tactics for Phillip Hughes that were more likely to have been originally worked out by England's Steve Harmison. Some batsmen do struggle with the short stuff.

Shane Warne was a spinner and as such didn't really have a bouncer in his armoury of deliveries, but he did work out other methods of getting into a batsman's head.

Cricket is a beautiful sport and the test matches are an art form. Although I am new to the game, this fellow was obviously an artist at his craft. He stood hard in the crease, near the heat. Although he knew he risked pain and injury, this was a grim reminder of the actual risk of playing so close to the edge. My heart goes out to his family, and the bowler. Consider the design flaw, improve the helmet, and honor the game in his memory.

Last edited Thu Dec 4, 2014, 02:14 AM - Edit history (1)

I'm on a pacfuic cruise and not a cricket fan but my son in law is his cousin so it's a massive shock. When l got some free wifi this morning and saw the tributes I got teary

RIP Phil

Over 100,000 people worldwide have responded to this call on social media. Here is my son's bat and Grade cap:


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