The Australian cricket team, politicians and celebrities are amongst the Australians who have today honoured the memory of the cricketer on the day of his funeral.
The Australian cricket team, politicians and celebrities are amongst the Australians who have today honoured the memory of the cricketer on the day of his funeral.
Mourners including Phillip Hughes’ teammates and fans have all converged on his small home of Macksville in Northern NSW to pay tribute to a fallen legend.
His team captain and close friend Michael Clarke has been named as one of the pallbearers at the funeral, and it’s expected that his teammates will form a guard of honour.
All businesses in Macksville are to come to a close for the solemn occasion and big screens have been set up in two of the towns ovals to allow for overflow for all those additional visitors who had made pilgrimage to the cricketer’s hometown.
The death of Phillip, known to all as Phil, shocked the nation as he died of head injuries sustained during a Sheffield Shield match in Sydney last week.
Since the shock death last week, tributes have flooded in from around Australia and the world as fans joined in on a social media campaign titled #putoutyourbats by sharing images of their cricket bats laid out in tribute to the young sportsman.
Michael Clarke gave an emotional tribute to his teammate over the weekend and has been posting photographic memories and tributes to him on social media ever since.
It’s not just his teammates and fans though who have paused to remember the star. The House of Representatives rose for a moment’s silence at Parliament House, Elton John played a song in concert to commemorate him, and even Queen Elizabeth II reportedly sent a private message, conveying her sympathies to the grieving family on Friday night.
Cricket Australia has suspended all play to allow the players time to grieve and the Sydney Cricket Ground has thrown open it’s gates for mourners to watch the funeral service live broadcast on the big screen. The funeral services have also been broadcast live across the nation.
A minimum of 5000 people were expected to attend the funeral – including up to 400 cricket dignitaries from across the world.
As the sad loss of a great sportsman at such a young age brings the country to a standstill, one thing seems sure, Australia will not forget the great cricketer anytime soon.
Delivering a moving eulogy at the funeral, team captain Michael Clarke said: “Phillip’s spirit, which is now part of our game forever, will act as a custodian of the sport we all love. We must listen to it, we must cherish it, we must learn from it, we must dig in…We must dig in and get through to tea. And we must play on.”
Michael said of Phillip that: “His spirit has brought us closer together, something I know must be him at work because it’s so consistent with how he played and lived. He always wanted to bring people together and he always wanted to celebrate his love for the game and its people.”
Phillip Hughes’ team captain and close friend Michael Clarke has been named as one of the pallbearers at the funeral, and it’s expected that his teammates will form a guard of honour.
A tearful Michael said in a press conference on the weekend that: “words cannot express the loss we all feel as a team right now. To Greg, Virginia, Jason and Megan, we share in the deep pain that you’re feeling.”
Australian cricket team captain has taken to Instagram to post a series of images paying tribute to his fallen teammate. This one was captioned “Brothers for life”
Michael Clarke posted this snap the night before the funeral, captioned: “Tomorrow is going to be a tough day!”
On the morning of the funeral, Michael Clarke’s wife Kyly posted this snap of the pair of them with Phil, captioned: “e miss you now, we will miss you more tomorrow but we will never forget you!”
Since the shock death last week, tributes have flooded in from around Australia and the world as fans joined in on a social media campaign titled #putoutyourbats by sharing images of their cricket bats laid out in tribute to the young sportsman.
Even Queen Elizabeth II reportedly sent a private message, conveying her sympathies to the grieving family of the cricketer.
The Sydney Cricket Ground joined in on the tributes the day after the new of Phil’s death – laying out a lone bat.
Performing at a concert in Munich, Elton John dedicated the performance of his song Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me to Phil Hughes and to bowler Sean Abbott, saying: ” This is for you Phil, wherever you are.”
Hugh Jackman posted this touching tribute to the cricketer from the stage of the Broadway theatre production ‘The River’ that he is currently performing in, captioned: “Just before curtain on Broadway … Paying tribute to Phillip Hughes.”
Michael Clarke posted this snap captioned “What a smile”
On the night of the ARIAs when Phil was in a critical condition in hospital, [Molly Meldrum, who himself suffered a severe brain injury three years ago, paid tribute to the cricketer as he was inducted into the Hall of Fame](http://www.womansday.com.au/celebrity/celebrity-headlines/2014/11/molly-meldrum-pays-tribute-to-phil-hughes-as-he-is-inducted-into-arias-hall-of-fame/).
On the night of the ARIAs when Phil was in a critical condition in hospital, Molly Meldrum, who himself suffered a severe brain injury three years ago, paid tribute to the cricketer as he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
On Sunday 30th November, when Phil would have celebrated his 26th birthday, Michael Clarke posted this snap captioned: “Happy BDAY 408. Life will never be the same”
Another tribute from Michael Clarke to his close friend.
A group shot with the team, captioned: “Brothers in arms”
He posted this one captioned “What I would give for just one more day.”
In another moving Instagram post, Michael Clarke posted “You will stand with me every time I walk out onto that ground”
Still, Clarke was able to focus on the happy memories too, posting; “You are all teeth bro…. Hahahahaha”
The Public School in Phil’s hometown of Macksville all laid their cricket bats out the front of the school in a particularly moving tribute. Image via @KimberleySoekov of Network Ten.
