Phillip Hughes: The Official Biography by By Malcolm Knox & Peter Lalor

Author:By Malcolm Knox & Peter Lalor [Lalor, By Malcolm Knox & Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Macmillan by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd

A proud-as-punch Hughes family at the Steve Waugh Medal with Phillip’s Rising Star Award.

Whatever eventuated with the so-called ‘bat-off’, the first thing to ensure was that they did not run each other out.

‘As long as we didn’t have to run between wickets we were fine,’ Jaques jokes. ‘We got out a few times over the years that way, he got me a few times and I got him a few times. As long as we were hitting to the boundary, we were fine.’

The wicket was good, and Jaques’s attitude on the day was generous, almost paternal. ‘I always talked a lot in the middle, particularly batting with the younger guys, but he was very self-assured, he knew what he was trying to do and it was just a matter of keeping him focused and not getting too excited. He always had a really good plan on how he was going to play and didn’t need too much advice. I gave it out a bit, and he would nod respectfully and get on with his work.’

Geeves and Denton opened the bowling. As they chatted between overs, Jaques told Phillip to get over the top of his cut shots ‘and hit them to the boundary every time they give us a bit of width’.

The contest was a non-event. Jaques and Phillip got a flying start, clubbing 23 off the first 23 balls before Jaques was bowled by Denton. Phillip, in partnerships of 116 with Forrest and 104 with Katich, made his way to a well-paced 151, surely the innings of a Test opening batsman.

‘It was chalk and cheese,’ says Katich, who scored 143 while Thornely made 110, setting up a big NSW win.

Phillip, having made his point in the first innings, flayed a celebratory 82 in the second. Jaques scored 12. ‘Hughesy was in prime form and Jaquesy couldn’t move,’ Katich says. ‘Hughesy was playing a different game. He just smoked them. He kept cutting the hell out of Krejza and they ended up having three or four points to stop it, so he ended up going the other way – hitting them through deep mid-wicket. He had an amazing eye, which is a huge advantage as a batsman. Throw in technique, and you have a double weapon.’

The Tasmanians were getting a familiar feeling. George Bailey recalls ‘an enormous amount of cut shots. With two points, an extra gully and a deep point, it seemed almost a game to Hughesy to see how tantalising he could make it for the fielders while drawing us closer and closer to despair.’

Geeves was finding Phillip ‘impossible to bowl to. My natural line and length had served me well, and I was coming off my only good summers at that time. I was bowling at my best, and he made me look stupid’.

After NSW’s 114-run win, with Phillip’s selection for the South African tour now a formality, Jaques was proud of his partner. ‘I couldn’t have been happier for him. While it was personally disappointing to miss out, it was great to see your mates there.

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