East Torrens captain Michael Cranmer pays tribute to late Phil Hughes, brother on his cricket bat

AC and PJH 408 are written on the back of the East Torrens captain Michael Cranmer’s bat in honour of two fallen teammates.

22/1/2015 pic at East Torrens Cricket Club oval tonight is Michael Cranmer It has been a rollercoaster 12 months for Michael. Almost a year to the day, his twin brother Andy died in a train accident. Then his East Torrens Cricket Club teammate Phil Hughes died. This season he is in career-best form, averaging 120 with the bat which has stickers on it dedicated to his brother Andy and the Phil hughes....PHOTO DAVE CRONIN

THEY are Michael Cranmer’s constant reminders that cricket is just a game.

AC and PJH 408 are written on the back of the East Torrens captain’s bat in honour of two fallen teammates.

His twin Andrew Cranmer died on February 1 last year in a train accident.

Nine months later, Australia’s 408th Test cricketer Phillip Hughes, who played alongside Michael at the Reds and in the Australian under-19s, died while batting for SA.

“I’ve got the big AC sticker stuck on my bat on the back and then have PJH 408 written on the bottom of one of my stickers just to remind myself of their presence,” Michael says.

“Every time I’m out there batting it’s one way of being able to give them a little bit of a tribute, just knowing that they’re always by my side.”

Michael has emerged from the tragedies in career-best form, while East Torrens sits second on the two-day competition ladder and has qualified for a One-Day Cup preliminary final.

The right-hand batsman, who played two one-day games for the Redbacks in 2010, has scored 360 runs at 120 in six matches.

His form led to selection for SA in a second XI match against Tasmania in Hobart, which started Monday, after presstime.

“I haven’t changed anything technically but I’ve matured a lot more as a person, realising life is pretty precious.

“Maybe I’m enjoying my cricket more now knowing it’s just a game and it’s not life or death – you can have bad games.

“I’m not putting as much pressure on myself to perform. I’m just going out there and enjoying playing with my mates.

“I see it as an outlet to be able to play competitive cricket and take your mind off things in the real world.”

Michael says Hughes’s death hit him and the club especially hard given “we’d all been through so much with Andrew’s passing”.

“For a freak accident like that to happen ... it was very tough for our boys to go through that again.

“It shows how strong our club is to go through two tragedies within 10 months of each other and come out the other side.

“Not a day goes by where we don’t think of Hughesy and Andy.”

East Torrens is playing its preliminary final against Adelaide at Campbelltown Oval this Sunday – the one-year anniversary of Andrew’s death.

The Reds are seeking their first silverware in A grade since winning both the two-day and 50-over competitions in 1990/91.

“It’d mean the world for us.

“It’s been unbelievable the way the boys have performed in the past year.

“There’d be no better tribute to Phil and Andy than to win a flag.”