First Test: Games goes on with and without Hughes
He was everywhere, yet painfully nowhere.
His closest mates were dressed in cricket whites rather than funeral black as they paused again to remember him.
“What is most important and what I know my little buddy would want, is going out and playing cricket,” Australian captain Michael Clarke said of his fallen friend Phillip Hughes.
Hughes’ smiling face, cherished baggy green cap atop his noggin, appeared everywhere on Tuesday at Adelaide Oval.
He smiled from a video tribute watched intently by Australian and Indian Test cricketers before the game went on.
He smiled from the front page of the local newspaper which produced a wraparound souvenir edition – his face surrounded by touching messages from everyday Aussies.
He smiled, bat on shoulder, from his triple-sized image on a window outside Adelaide Oval’s southern entrance where his makeshift memorial is.
Many flocking to enter the first Test stopped at the memorial, adorned with flowers and loving cards, numerous cricket bats leaning in a row.
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Hughes’ Australian teammates wore his Test number, 408, on their shirts – fittingly on the heart.
They strode onto an oval which has known such sadness before – David Hookes’ funeral was held here in 2004, at an oval overlooked in part by St Peter’s Cathedral, the scene of Sir Donald Bradman’s 2001 memorial service.
The players walked on, near Hughes’ 408 number painted in stark white paint on the outfield, flanked by Australian and Indian flags.
They stood, throats as tight as a tourniquet, as the giant video screen tribute played.
There he was – the son of a banana farmer, saluting centuries, smiling and embracing his baggy green “bruz”, as he called his cricketing brothers.
Then the minute-long tribute stopped.
The players and crowd, some wiping tears from their eyes, applauded in unison for 63 seconds.
Hughes, batting for South Australia, was 63 not out when struck by the fatal bouncer a fortnight ago.
It’s a score that is anonymous no more.
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By the numbers: Australia v India
All Tests: Played 86; Australia 38, India 24, tied 1, drawn 23
At Adelaide Oval: Played 10; Australia 6, India 1, drawn 3
Australia’s record in 2014: Played 6; won 3, lost 3, drawn 0
The teams
Australia XI: David Warner, Chris Rogers, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke (capt), Steve Smith, Mitch Marsh, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon
Potential India XI: Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma
Notable stats and potential records
- Michael Clarke has played nine Tests at Adelaide Oval, scoring 1279 runs at 98.38
- Mitchell Johnson needs 30 scalps this series to celebrate his 300th Test wicket. The only other Australians to have reached that milestone are Shane Warne (708), Glenn McGrath (563), Dennis Lillee (355) and Brett Lee (310)
- Virat Kohli will become the 32nd man to captain India in a Test
- India are seeking their first Test series win in Australia.
– with AAP
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