I cast my mind back to last Tuesday morning. I'm sitting in the living room, having a bit of breakfast and watching a bit of the old Breakfast TV before I go to work. All of a sudden I feel a cold shudder throughout my body. The reason why? I hear the news that the Australian cricketer Phil Hughes is lying in a coma in a Sydney hospital bed, having been hit in the head by a bouncer during a State game between New South Wales and South Australia.
Hold on a moment, I tell myself, that's not meant to happen. I've watched cricket enough times in my life and witnessed several batsmen have the misfortune to be on the receiving end of a blow to the helmet from a bouncer. For sure some batsmen may have suffered some concussion or been extremely groggy for several minutes, but for the most part they have returned to the crease ready to resume battle with a bowler more or less immediately or in a game soon after.
Social media commentary particularly amongst the Cricket Fraternity, expresses shock and extreme concern for their cricketing colleague, you'd imagine because they've never experienced a friend or colleague lying in a critical condition in a hospital bed as result of their participation in cricket match. There are prayers and optimism however that with the best care Phil Hughes will pull through this.
It's Wednesday now. Hospital doctor indicates no change in Phil Hughes's condition and remains critical. In a bizarre way, something else concerns me more that day however. I view some of the pictures of various members of the Australian cricket squad visiting their stricken colleague and friend in hospital. The looks on their faces did not portray feelings of optimism. In fact each and everyone of them looked crestfallen. The Australian Cricketing Bravado that the cricketing world has come to love and often hate in equal measure had disappeared. These were simply human beings seriously concerned about the welfare of their friend. Cricket didn't matter at that moment.
Thursday morning and the news everyone has been dreading becomes a sad reality. Phil Hughes passed away with his family at his bedside. A young 25 year old batsmen with potentially the cricketing world at his feet, has his life cut short by a tragic accident after being hit in the neck by a bouncer which caused a rare injury called vertebral artery dissection. This simply wasn't meant to happen.
For an entire generation of professional and amateur players throughout the world and arguably the millions of fans across the world who watch cricket day in day out, the game as a whole will probably never be the same again. How can it? No one was ever meant to die playing the game they loved. They were cocooned in protective gear including helmet. Yet the invincibility of a cricketer has been destroyed in the space of a few seconds.
And what of Sean Abbot, the young bowler who bowled the fatal delivery. For any other human being, cricketer or otherwise we can take a step back and rationalise the incident as a tragic accident. Sean Abbot was doing his job representing his State. He decided to bowl a bouncer as a legitimate way of preventing Hughes potentially scoring runs or possibly even nicking a wicket with a miscued hook. He didn't set out to fatally floor his opponent. What happens when you're the person involved however? The death of a friend or colleague was not meant to happen as result of delivering a bouncer. How do you rationalise that? Amazingly and courageously Abbot has returned to training already. Let's hope he continues to get the support to overcome this awful situation.
One other person deserves a special mention, as he has been truly outstanding displaying kindness, humanity and outstanding leadership during the past week. Michael Clarke was clearly the best of friends with Phil Hughes, but he has gone above and beyond this past week. From keeping vigil at his friend's hospital bed, attending press conferences and reading statements, he has showed himself to be a truly kind and decent human being, and people's perception of him have probably changed forever this past week. I've never related to Michael Clarke, certainly on a human level, as a cricketing fan, yet on Friday I found myself wanting to hug him. His statement about his friend and brother was truly heartbreaking to listen to and it must of taken a lot of courage to sit there and read it.
So what about the future? Right now it really doesn't matter. Family, friends and colleagues are saying goodbye to Phil Hughes today at his funeral in Macksville. How they feel about cricket after that would be anyone's guess.
With a sad heart we say today RIP Philip Hughes.
For likes of Sean Abbot, the Australian Cricket team, and the Cricketing World in general, may we all start to live at peace with the events of this week.
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