The former Australia bowlers Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee and the wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, the nation’s prime minister Tony Abbott as well as India’s captain Virat Kohli and their team manager, Ravi Shastri, were among those who attended Phillip Hughes’s funeral in his home town of Macksville, New South Wales, on Wednesday. The service at Hughes’s former school opened with the music Forever Young and lasted around 75 minutes, concluding with Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.
The funeral was broadcast live in Australia and on video screens at the Adelaide Oval and the SCG, where 63 bats were displayed – one for each of the undefeated runs Hughes made in his final innings – each with an inscription of a special moment in the player’s career. Hughes’s coffin at the front of the hall was surrounded by flowers and cricket bats.
Hughes’s father, Gregory, and his former state and international team-mates Tom Cooper and Aaron Finch were also pallbearers. Cooper was batting with Hughes when he sustained the fatal injury. Michael Clarke fought back the tears as he led the tributesday. T, the Australia captain, was also among the pallbearers. In a moving speech he said: “He left a mark on our game that needs no embellishment. I don’t know about you but I keep looking for him. I know it’s crazy, but I expect any minute to take a call from him or to see his face pop around the corner. Is this what we call the ‘spirit’? If so then his spirit is still with me and I hope it never leaves.”
He said Hughes had “the heart of a man who lived his life for this wonderful game we play”, adding: “His spirit has touched the game, and the SCG will forever be a sacred ground for me.”
Clarke, his voice quaking, ended by echoing something Hughes used to tell him during matches, saying: “We must dig in and get through to tea, and we must play on. So rest in peace, my little brother. I’ll see you out in the middle.”
Jason and Megan Hughes also read out letters to their brother. “I couldn’t have asked for a better little brother,” Jason said. “From a very young age, you were destined to be our rock star,” Megan said: “I’m so honoured to call you my brother, my best friend and my hero.”
Corey Ireland, a family friend, referenced Hughes’ blossoming career and his pride at his Macksville farm roots, saying: “Phillip’s deal to himself was that he would add another Angus cow to the herd every time he scored a century. His herd quickly grew.”
The Cricket Australia chief executive, James Sutherland, was the final person to address the mourners, saying: “I imagine Phillip has already taken guard up there and is currently flaying his trademark cut shot behind point. Cricket’s heart has been pierced with pain but it will never stop beating. Phillip Hughes … forever unconquered on 63.”
Cricketers past and present formed a guard of honour, with the hearse and funeral procession passing through them before travelling through the streets of Macksville as players and other mourners walked behind.
The former Australia batsman Damien Martyn tweeted: “#RIP little mate Phillip Hughes … Such a beautiful service. Forever remembered and never forgotten …”
Sean Abbott, the bowler whose delivery struck Hughes on the neck at the SCG, was among the mourners. There has been an outpouring of concern for Abbott in the aftermath of Hughes’s death. The 22-year-old, who made his Australian one-day and T20 debuts only two months ago, was reported to have returned to bowling in a New South Wales optional training session in the SCG nets on Tuesday.
He arrived at the funeral on a coach with the rest of his NSW team-mates before walking the short distance to the hall with his mother, Georgina, and father, Nathan, by his side. He was supported by his girlfriend, Brier Neil, and joined the other mourners, with the former Australia batsman Dean Jones among those to reach out and shake his hand.
