Australia bids emotional farewell to cricketer Phillip Hughes

Australia bid an emotional farewell to cricketer Phillip Hughes at a funeral in his hometown on Wednesday with a live coast-to-coast broadcast allowing a nation to unite in celebration of the life of a sportsman cut down in his prime.

Eight days after Hughes was struck by a ball on the back of the head and six after he died from the catastrophic injuries that resulted, his family, friends and a host of cricketing greats gathered at Macksville High School.

Cricket Australia Chief Executive James Sutherland spoke for many when he tried to make sense of the huge outpouring of grief that followed the tragic death of the lefthanded batsman a few days short of his 26th birthday.

"The wave of emotion that has washed over our country this past week tells us so much about the affection millions felt for Phillip and also about the privileged place cricket has near the heart of this nation," he said.

"Quite simply, the boy from this proud community of Macksville, personified the spirit of Australian cricket.

"Ever since Bradman, the image of the innocent country boy playing in the backyard while dreaming of wearing a baggy green cap has become entrenched in our psyche. It's our foundation myth as a cricketing nation."

Some 1,000 mourners, mostly locals with a smattering of luminaries including Prime Minister Tony Abbott, dabbed away tears and perspiration in the baking heat of the school hall with thousands more watching on screens in the sunshine outside.

From the eulogies, they learned of a beloved son, brother, cousin and friend whose passion for cricket was matched only by his enthusiasm for the Angus cattle he helped raise on the family farm.

They were also reminded of a small town boy with a prodigious talent for hitting a ball with a bat who headed down the coast to big city Sydney as a teenager and ended up playing 26 tests for his country.

Australia captain Michael Clarke broke down in tears for the second time in a few days as he paid public tribute to his former team mate and friend.

Australian cricket captain farewells #PhilHughes in emotional speech: https://t.co/jTA7S6VWzj pic.twitter.com/lGHxbfEbyl

— CNN International (@cnni) December 3, 2014

"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," he said, struggling to contain his emotions.

"We must cherish it. We must learn from it. We must dig in and get through to tea. And we must play on.

"So rest in peace my little brother. I will see you out in the middle."

CRICKET GREATS

Australian greats of the game such as Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting and Glenn McGrath were in attendance, while Richard Hadlee, Brian Lara and India captain Virat Kohli represented the wider cricket world.

New South Wales paceman Sean Abbott, who delivered the bouncer that dealt the fatal blow in a state match at the Sydney Cricket Ground last Tuesday, was also among the mourners.

When he suffered the injury, Hughes was batting for a recall to the Australia side for the opening match in the test series against India, which has since been rescheduled.

Tributes continued to flood in from around the world on Wednesday, many joining the viral campaign to get people to place cricket bats outside homes, workplaces and at sports grounds in tribute to Hughes.

Hughes's own bat rested against the coffin throughout a service which concluded with "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", the song Elton John dedicated to the cricketer when he played it in a concert in Munich last week.

Clarke and fellow cricketers Aaron Finch and Tom Cooper joined Hughes's father and brother among the pallbearers and delivered the coffin to the hearse, which then set off in a procession through the town.

Hughes was cremated in a private ceremony.

Luminaries

Cricket luminaries and fans Wednesday gathered for the emotional funeral of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes, whose death from a freak on-field injury brought his grieving hometown to a standstill.

Hughes, 25, and on the cusp of a recall to the Test team, died from bleeding on the brain last Thursday after being hit on the base of the skull by a rising ball at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Click to see gallery: Australia says goodbye to Phillip Hughes

His tragic death stunned Australia, where cricket is considered the national game, and prompted the rescheduling of the upcoming India Test series, while fans around the world placed cricket bats outside their front doors as a mark of respect.

In Hughes' small hometown of Macksville, on Australia's east coast, tributes to the opener who scored three centuries in 26 Tests hung in shop windows, while ribbons in the green and gold colours of the Australian Test team adorned telephone poles.

"It's so huge. It's so massive," said local resident Bethany Simmons of the response to Hughes' death as she looked at the tributes with her children.

"It's so shocking, you never expect this to happen in cricket. Everyone knows the risks of rugby... but this was just so shocking. And he had so much potential."

Macksville itself, with a population of just 2,500, has been bracing a funeral to be attended by luminaries such as Shane Warne, Richard Hadlee, and Hughes' first Test skipper Ricky Ponting.

Brian Lara, who had been in Australia, is representing the West Indies Cricket Board which noted that "the entire cricket world is in shock and a state of grief".

Prime Minister Tony Abbott also planned to attend.

Current Australian captain Michael Clarke, a close friend of Hughes, will be among the pallbearers and deliver a tribute during the service which starts at 2:00pm (0300 GMT) and will be televised live.

It will open with the song 'Forever Young', while Hughes' cousin Nino Ramunno, brother Jason and sister Megan will deliver the eulogy before Elton John's 'Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me' closes proceedings.

A no-fuss guy

Hughes' parents Greg and Virginia and siblings have invited the whole town to the service at Macksville High School, with about 1,000 expected to cram into the hall and space for 4,000 more in overflow areas.

After the service, the hearse will travel down the town's main street, with mourners expected to line the procession to bid farewell to one of their favourite sons.

"There's not one Australian who can't be with us here in Macksville to celebrate Phillip's life," Hughes' manager James Henderson said.

"That's something, again, that's been very exceptionally moving for the family, to think that the whole of the country can stop and join them in celebrating his life and sending him off in the way that they really want to.

"Hughesy was a really no-fuss guy and I know he would be looking down at all of this and wondering what the hell's going on," he added.

The funeral is a huge event in Macksville, with shops closing and residents in mourning. Just outside town, one business created a huge tribute using three cherry pickers as cricket stumps and putting Hughes' Test number 408 across them.

At Hughes's old primary school, St Patrick's, dozens of bats lined the front fence, many bearing messages remembering the hugely popular opener who was not out on 63 when he was struck.

Hughes died after his vertebral artery split when hit by the ball, leading to massive bleeding in his brain.

As she walked the main street looking at the tributes, local resident Zan Moc said she wished the Hughes family well.

"They gave us their son -- I just hope that we can all support them," she said.

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