Former teammates Callum Ferguson, Travis Head and Ryan Harris lail legacy of Phillip Hughes
Former teammates Callum Ferguson, Travis Head and Ryan Harris speak about the glowing legacy that the late Phillip Hughes left with them.
Cricket
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Age will not weary him, but teammates Phillip Hughes touched from Travis Head to Callum Ferguson remain in awe of the late Test star’s legacy five years on from a sorrowful end.
Hughes’s death two days after sustaining a head blow on November 25, 2014, while batting for South Australia against New South Wales at the SCG rocked the cricket world.
Former teammates have told The Advertiser, 26-Test batsman Hughes’s demise remains raw while his family in Macksville is left with an unspeakable void.
“We were over the moon when Hughes came to play with us, a batsman of international standard and ripping bloke,” recalled former Australian batsman Ferguson.
“We all became very close with Hughesy because he had an infectious nature, he was a guy you enjoyed being around and brought so much to our group.
“We have a couple of photos that are prominent and one as you walk out the (Adelaide Oval) dressing room on the wall I sit next to. It is a constant reminder of what he brought. We were just so lucky.”
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Hughes left New South Wales and joined South Australia under Darren Berry’s reign in 2012 intent on a Test recall having been dropped after Australia’s drawn two-Test series against New Zealand.
Hughes would earn a baggy green return and adoration of Redbacks teammates who loved the kid with a rascal grin.
“I was able to spend a fair bit of time at the coffee shop in O’Connell Street with him because he lived just around the corner from me. He was a fantastic character,” Ferguson said.
House-mate Tom Cooper was batting with Hughes the day he fell aged 25 at the SCG. Ferguson notes everyone deals differently with the five-year mark since cricket’s great tragedy but it is Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa who lifts spirits on a difficult day.
“We have had a fair bit of time to grieve in our individual ways. He was a great mate to so many people,” said Ferguson.
“I was only talking to Coops the other day. A couple of things generally come up around this time, we generally have a catch up and will over in Perth. Adam Zampa usually rallies the troops,” said Ferguson before flying to Perth for SA’s Sheffield Shield match starting on Friday against Western Australia.
A portrait of Hughes crafted by Zampa’s partner Hattie Palmer sits before the front door of their suburban dwelling.
Hughes convinced Zampa to leave Sydney and flower with greater opportunity.
Having progressed to become Australia’s No.1 one-day spinner Zampa wears No.63 on his shirt to honour Hughes’ unbeaten, final first class score
“Cricket will never be the same” for Zampa, who says the game has been put in perspective for him.
Ryan Harris loved playing alongside Hughes which is backed by a record of 37 wickets at 18.3 in the seven Tests shared with the boy from a banana farm.
“He is always in our thoughts. To think it is five years is amazing. I was at the SCG for the T20s and there is a plaque of him there when you walk into the change-rooms and I gave it a little pat,’ Harris said.
Harris’ final series before retiring included the Phillip Hughes Adelaide Test against India which was staged in the emotional aftermath of his funeral.
Harris recalled a surreal experience of not knowing if teammates including skipper Michael Clarke and opener David Warner would front in a Test Darren Lehmann’s Australia won against all odds.
“It was hard to describe the emotion from deciding whether we would play, to the first training session and Davey Warner walking out of training after three or four balls because he couldn’t bat,” he said.
“Boof didn’t know if he had a team turning up on the day. It was the unknown, hopefully anyone would never have to experience anything like that again.”
Australian No.6 and Redbacks skipper Travis Head shed tears after posting a maiden Test against Sri Lanka in February in Canberra.
“I shared that with the guys who are here and would like to have shared it with him as well,” said Head who noted it was mentor Hughes who taught that scoring centuries ‘was his job’ more than an achievement.
“I can get quite emotional but not in that sort of sense or that moment. Not like it did and that situation. That was a first for me.
“I think about a lot of people when I go out and bat, a lot of people in my life when I am out there and do well and he is a part of that and my journey.”
It was left to SACA chief executive Keith Bradshaw to break the news to Redbacks teammates that their teammate wouldn’t recover from his on-field injury. It was a duty that still troubles Bradshaw.
“He’s still ever present for me and people here. That was hardest situation that I have ever had to deal with,” Bradshaw said.