“TThe way he went about it was breathtaking. Simon Ketch had the best seats in the house when 20-year-old Philip Hughes picked apart one of South Africa’s greatest ever attacks for his maiden Test century in his second Test in Durban in 2009, followed by another Scored 160 runs in the innings. Became the youngest player to score twin centuries in one Test.
He would go on to score another 20 first-class centuries after his century at Kingsmead, but it was this game where he announced himself to the world.
“Dale Steyn was at the height of his powers, as was Morne Morkel,” recalled Kitch. “Makhya Antiney was still a handful, and they had the best all-rounder of all time in Jacques Kallis. They still had no idea where to bowl him.
November 27 marks ten years since Hughes’ tragic death, two days after being hit by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield game at the SCG in 2014.
Hughes’ Test career began at Wanderers in Johannesburg a week before Durban, when he was chosen as Matthew Hayden’s successor after a brilliant start to his first-class career just 14 months earlier. He failed to dismiss Dale Steyn for a wicket in the first over, but a hard-working 75 in the second innings helped seal Australia’s victory after the South African fast bowlers chased him down with the short ball. .
“I have always been a big fan of him and when he made his Test debut, even though he got out in that first innings, it never bothered him,” Katch said. “After the first Test, the way he got out in the first innings in Johannesburg, there were some questions. But he never let that affect how he was around the group. He was one of those lucky young men.”
In Durban he showed his talent, which led to his first-class debut at the age of 19 in late 2007. Earlier in the first session, he hit Morkel for four fours in one over. Hughes’ power behind square on the offside had already become a trademark, but here he lobbed shots all around the wicket, including some majestic straight drives.
“I remember looking at the wicket and we all weren’t sure what to do,” Katch said. “I know Punter. [Ricky Ponting] Wasn’t quite sure of the toss as it didn’t look like a great wicket, but he actually played very well. Hughie completely obliterated them in just the first two hours.
Hughes left his senior partner in his wake. At lunch, he scored 74 with 14 fours and Katich scored 32. “What stood out for me was that between the overs it didn’t feel like we were playing a Test match because he was so calm and cool,” he added. . “I think at one stage we were talking about his bulls at Maxwell. We all knew he was special, but in your second Test, against that standard of attack, in those conditions It was wonderful to do.
“You just had to be a bit wider on middle and off-stump because he had this amazing ability to take the ball over the stumps, which is a good ball for most, play it defensively or leave it. And he might be clipping it behind the point or in front of the point.”
Ten overs after the interval, Hughes had moved on to 89 and was facing left-arm spinner Paul Harris. After six balls, he became Australia’s youngest player to score a Test century in 43 years. He went for 99 with a straight six over long-on, then the next delivery was another one slightly wide at deep midwicket. They eventually fell to Kells for 115, caught at gully by Neil McKenzie, ending the stand at 184 in 44 overs with Katch.
“They would crowd the offside with a 7-2 field and he was still picking the gap. Then, as soon as Harris came in, he decided to take it to the mound,” Katich said. “He He was going to outdo himself, and I encouraged him. We always talked about building partnerships in sets of ten runs. The beauty of it was that he was scoring ten runs in a couple of balls!
“What he did in Durban was fantastic to watch, and it was inspiring to see him at the other end. It was watching a young man play with the freedom of youth and not a care in the world. He was a He was a remarkable player.”
Katech, the then New South Wales captain, first saw Hughes play in a grade game at Sydney’s Purton Park. Ketch was aware of other notable names coming through the system: he played with Usman Khawaja as a 17-year-old and saw the runs piled up by Steven Smith.
“I probably hadn’t heard that much about Hughesy but the New South Wales selectors were talking to me about him,” Katch said. “Once I saw him play, I realized the guy has some serious eye for his hand because I looked at his footwork and thought, this is different.
“That’s the beauty of the game, everyone has a different style and you play according to what suits you. We picked him shortly after that club game – he only made 30 from memory – but we thought That kid has something about him, and he kept making runs, we gave him a chance and he grabbed it with both hands.
Hughes scored 51 on his first-class debut, with five more half-centuries in his next five matches, leading up to the 2007–08 Sheffield Shield Final (or Full Cup, as it was then known). After falling to Peter Siddle for six in the first innings against Victoria, he became the youngest player to score a century in a Shield final, taking New South Wales to an unbeaten position. They would eventually win by 258 runs.
“When he made his debut for New South Wales it was phenomenal to watch,” Katich said. “For the first few months, it was like he was my little shadow. Wherever I was, he was right next to me and if we were out, he would be sitting next to me in the viewing area.
“He flashed a cheeky smile and talked about going into the third slip. We spent a lot of time together at the crease. Great memories of it.
“Of all the guys I’ve played with in my career, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say a bad word about Phil Hughes.”
At the end of that season Hughes went straight to Australia A for the tour of India, then in his second game of the 2008–09 summer, he scored 198 runs against South Australia. He then scored three more centuries in consecutive matches which booked the ticket to South Africa.
Back in Durban, Hughes was far from finished. After Australia dismissed South Africa for 138, Ponting refused to enforce the follow-on. This time the stand was broken on 55 with Ketch, but Hughes plowed on. After a largely fluid opening day, it was an innings of varying phases: his first fifty off 78 balls, the second off 169, and the third off 66 balls.
Fittingly, his hundred arrived with an uppercut from backward point. At the age of 20 years and 98 days, Hughes broke George Headley’s record as the youngest player to score two centuries in a Test.
“It’s a great picture of not only his appetite, but his skill and mental application,” Katch said. “A lot of senior players find it difficult to score double centuries. It doesn’t happen very often. To be able to go out there as a young player in your second Test and do it against that quality of opposition, especially when the conditions Can change, it started to go up and down a little bit, to be able to go out there, back up, mentally and physically hungry to start again, it was remarkable.
A few months later Ketch saw Hughes suffer the first concussion of his career. Before the 2009 Ashes, Hughes averaged 69.36 with ten centuries in 24 matches in first-class cricket. But he was ruled out of the two-match series after being worked around the wicket by Andrew Flintoff.
“I was as shocked and hurt for him as anybody,” Katich said. “It was a brutal call and that stayed with him for a while, he was in and out of the team, and when you come back and you Trying to make the most of it is always difficult. This thing was running on his mind a little.
It began a period when he was unable to make a regular place in the Test team, although he did score a third century against Sri Lanka in 2011 during a lengthy return to the playing XI. Returning to South Africa in 2011, Pat Cummins made his Test debut, scoring 88 in Johannesburg. After a century on ODI debut against Sri Lanka in 2013, then-selector John Inverness said he had Hughes in mind. World Cup 2015.
In what would prove to be his final Test against England at Trent Bridge, he scored an unbeaten 81 at number 11 with Ashton Agar’s record 98. In August 2014, he scored a career-best 243 not out against South Africa A. , which came two weeks after an ODI double century against the same team.
“When the accident happened, there was a real feeling that he wasn’t far from being back in the team and that he was going to stay there,” Katich said. “He was an all-format player. He was still young and we have seen many examples of players who were dropped and came back stronger for it. Most, if not all of us, agreed that Hughie belongs in that category. I would have. He had more to come.” – cricinfo