Remembering Phillip Hughes: His career in pictures

Phillip Hughes made his debut in the New South Wales state side as a precociously talented 18-year-old, with quick hands and a sharp eye. He had an off-side-dominated game honed at his family's Macksville home on the state's mid north coast.

Hughes had moved to Sydney at 17 and joined Western Suburbs Cricket Club, where he first met and played alongside Michael Clarke.

Image Id: ~/media/0055F3C5444F4729841147B39B9FAE1B Image Caption: Phillip Hughes scored 51 in his first-class debut against Tasmania, November 2007 // Getty Images

By 19, he was firmly entrenched in the NSW Blues side as an opening batter under the captaincy of Simon Katich. He became the youngest player to score a century in a Sheffield Shield final, making 116 in the second innings against Victoria in the 2007-08 Pura Cup final.

Image Id: ~/media/CCA6D996A579419298F74EBA3AD39357 Image Caption: Hughes leaps into the air upon reaching a century in the 2008 Pura Cup final // Getty
Image Id: ~/media/9E517D286BE944A9B06FBD6C9D50E8C1 Image Caption: Captain and mentor, Simon Katich was at the crease to congratulate the teenage sensation // Getty

In February 2009, after another prolific year in domestic first-class cricket, Hughes was named the Bradman Young Player of the Year at the Allan Border Medal ceremony.

Image Id: ~/media/5CF474A7C171430F89D5F543B4025882 Image Caption: Four centuries and 891 runs at 74.68 in 2008-009 won Hughes recognition at the Allan Border Medal // Getty

Such numbers proved impossible to ignore for Australia's selectors, who named him in the squad to tour South Africa in February and March of that year as the opener tasked with replacing the recently retired Matthew Hayden.

Image Id: ~/media/E5C8EB9F8C014A7AAC59582C65F33F7F Image Caption: A portrait shoot of Hughes was taken ahead of his Test debut // Getty

Hughes made his debut in Johannesburg, shaking as he was presented with Baggy Green No.408 by skipper Ricky Ponting as one of three debutants in the match. He made a four-ball duck in the first innings but rebounded to score 75 in his second dig.

Image Id: ~/media/FC722C0D216A4C85AE79704FC6DF5F82 Image Caption: Hughes (centre) made his Test debut alongside Marcus North and Ben Hilfenhaus // Getty
Image Id: ~/media/1E7E77D43BB94EE09FA3911B65A72478 Image Caption: His debut at the Wanderers stadium was a baptism of fire for the 20-year-old facing Steyn, Ntini and Morkel // Getty
Image Id: ~/media/4F2D31712178493EA080DE0AF6DD7F3D Image Caption: Hughes and his father Greg in the change rooms after Australia's 162-run Test victory // Getty

The next Test, in Durban, was history in the making. The South Africans thought Hughes had a short-ball weakness, but he turned it into a strength and used the pace of the Proteas attack against them.

Image Id: ~/media/632E4653BF3B41A0A1431801E7DBC722 Image Caption: Hughes celebrates as he reaches 100 through the leg side in Durban // Getty

Hughes brought up his maiden Test century in his third Test innings, and followed it up with a brilliant 160 in the second.

At 20 years, three months and nine days old, he became the youngest to record a century in both innings of a Test, a record he still holds.

Image Id: ~/media/797CE362836149B4B82124943347B2B6 Image Caption: Michael Clarke has a pat on the back for his mate at stumps on day three, with Hughes on 136 // Getty

That winter took Hughes to England where he played the season with Middlesex in the County Championship second division.

In five innings across three matches, Hughes scored an incredible three centuries and two half-centuries. He racked up 574 runs at 143.5 and a high score of 195.

Image Id: ~/media/1C1A94DF4BBC46E6A2D000116FC9A5A6 Image Caption: Hughes walks out the Lord's pavilion on his county cricket debut for Middlesex // Getty

A dream for every Australian cricketer, Hughes played in his first Ashes series in 2009, but a barrage of short-pitched bowling would bring a premature end to his series.

Image Id: ~/media/FA0D7435847241C48EB972FD617CAB71 Image Caption: Andrew Flintoff celebrates the wicket of Phillip Hughes in Cardiff as the opener endured a torrid tour, dropped after two Tests // Getty

Hughes would taste team success early in his career as part of the NSW Blues team that took out the 2009 Champions League T20 tournament. He starred with the bat alongside close friend and fellow opener David Warner, with both batters scoring more than 200 runs in the competition.

Image Id: ~/media/1477D9B6293E4FFDABB287447192F109 Image Caption: The thrill of victory. Hughes celebrates the 2009 CLT20 win in India with NSW // Getty

Hughes played his first Test on Australian soil in Sydney against Pakistan in January 2010. Like his debut innings abroad, he scored a first-innings duck.

Image Id: ~/media/75A89DA01D5146A5A4DE56AAD9AF99BE Image Caption: Home turf. Hughes heading to the SCG middle in front of friends and family for the first time in Test cricket // Getty

In his next Test in March that year, and chasing 106 to win against New Zealand in Wellington, Hughes smashed 86 from 75 balls to propel Australia to an emphatic 10-wicket win.

Image Id: ~/media/E06739AB311B400F9BC678C765BA8916 Image Caption: Hughes salutes in Wellington after blazing his way to a half-century off only 43 balls // Getty

In front of 84,345 fans, Hughes’s first Boxing Day Test in 2010 ended on a sour note in a forgettable 2010-11 Ashes series. Australia lost in Melbourne by an innings and 157 runs after being rolled for 98 on day one.

Image Id: ~/media/CA8261DF4218438EB898FFAA2E8D30B8 Image Caption: Tough day at the office. Hughes walked on to the MCG with Shane Watson, the man who replaced him 18 months earlier // Getty

Four years after becoming the youngest player to score a century in a Shield final, Hughes would post another Shield final ton, this time on a seaming green track against Tasmania in Hobart.

Image Id: ~/media/EA05AD8940E2441C919A686371015339 Image Caption: Jumping for joy. Hughes celebrates his century on the first day of the 2010-11 Sheffield Shield final, going on to make 138 // Getty

Under pressure again after a lean series opening the batting in Sri Lanka in September 2011, Hughes scored a match-saving century in the third Test in Colombo to see Australia draw the match and hand Michael Clarke a win in his first series as captain.

Image Id: ~/media/72F2F87C15BC4F1AAFC8A31ECABC5F0D Image Caption: Alongside former captain Ricky Ponting, Hughes raises his bat for his third Test century and his first against Sri Lanka, in Colombo // AFP

A week after the Cape Town capitulation that saw Australia bowled out for 47 at the hands of hosts South Africa, Hughes played a starring role in the epic second Test win at the Wanderers, Johannesburg.

Combining for 174 with opening partner Watson, the pair each scored 88 to set up a first innings lead before Test debutant Pat Cummins took six wickets and hit the winning runs to record a thrilling two-wicket win.

Image Id: ~/media/67D66A52E08247238181E08D0ABB8BFD Image Caption: Hughes up on tiptoes playing through his favoured off-side against the Proteas // Getty

An injury to Watson presented Hughes a familiar face for a new opening partner in Warner, who made his Test debut for the two-Test series against New Zealand in late 2011.

But the series would Hughes's last for 12 months, dropped for the third time in his short career after a series of low scores.

Image Id: ~/media/C8D9AFED19A8490790FB9EBBE43F49C7 Image Caption: All-out assault. Hughes and Warner in their first Test series together. However, Hughes would fall caught Guptill, bowled Martin four times in two Tests to lose his place // Getty

Hughes would return to English County cricket in 2012, this time with division one outfit Worcestershire.

The left-hander would go on to make 560 runs and score two centuries in first-class cricket, but it would be in the limited-overs competitions where Hughes would really shine, averaging 81 in one-day cricket, and was the leading run-scorer in the T20 tournament with an incredible average of 100.50.

Image Id: ~/media/5748BAD09F174B48948F04F2C2656357 Image Caption: Hughes was unstoppable against the white ball for Worcester in 2012 // Getty

Hughes moved to South Australia for the 2012-13 Sheffield Shield season, and the change of badge on his heldmet did nothing to dampen his prolific run-scoring – 95 and 83 on debut against Queensland at the Gabba.

Image Id: ~/media/92B60F92866A442A9D7D3DA244310462 Image Caption: New uniform, same result, Phillip Hughes raises his bat on his West End Redbacks debut // Getty

His move to South Australia also meant turning out for KFC T20 Big Bash League club Adelaide Strikers, scoring two fifties as the men in blue narrowly missed the finals.

Image Id: ~/media/1524115E4A3447DC81E4B6C398BEA4D9 Image Caption: Hughes on the sweep for the Strikers against the Perth Scorchers in BBL|02 // Getty

Almost a year after being dropped and on the back of 158 for South Australia in the Sheffield Shield at the MCG, Hughes returned to the Test team to take on Sri Lanka in the 2012-13 summer.

He would miss out on that elusive fourth Test ton twice, grabbing a pair of 80s in his 243 runs for the series.

Image Id: ~/media/8688BFC1AC6643738C15BC121A2E1FAB Image Caption: Big smiles in nets at Hobart, 2012, as he is recalled to the Test team // Getty
Image Id: ~/media/C64C2D2E675C412B8ADAC436FF2CA9EF Image Caption: Multi-talented, Phil Hughes kept wicket for Australia while regular wicketkeeper Matthew Wade bowled // Getty
Image Id: ~/media/E5552B670D76442CA5E9C396C02C562C Image Caption: Back in front of his home crowd at the SCG, Hughes scored the dreaded 87 against Sri Lanka in January 2013 // Getty

His domestic one-day form was not overlooked, picked for the five-match home ODI series against Sri Lanka, with Hughes vindicating his selection by becoming the first Australian to score a century on ODI debut. He would add another hundred, 138, in the fifth ODI in Hobart 12 days later.

Image Id: ~/media/0BD20CF0E695450DAEE4973DDF88AEFC Image Caption: Hughes basking in the applause of the MCG faithful after becoming the first Australian to score an ODI century on debut // Getty

With more than 1,100 runs across all three formats, Hughes was named Australia’s Domestic Player of the Year at the 2013 Allan Border Medal awards night, receiving 33.80 per cent of the player votes.

Image Id: ~/media/BB62990CA2254122AAC33C928F417EE4 Image Caption: Hughes collects the 2012-13 Domestic Player of Year award, the second time he was honoured at an AB Medal ceremony // Getty Images

Australia’s next Test tour would take them to the Indian subcontinent where Hughes and his teammates struggled against the local spin and hostile wickets.

Over the course of the four matches, Hughes’s hard work off the field started to show on it, significantly contributing in the last two Tests, scoring a half-century in the third Test in Mohali.

A month after the tour of India, Hughes was named in the 16-player squad for the 2013 Ashes series.

In the first Test at Trent Bridge, he would again enter the record books, this time with 19-year-old debutant Ashton Agar as the pair combined for 163 runs. It was at the time the highest 10th wicket partnership in Test history.

Image Id: ~/media/75866D5E5D7142CEA872EFA2BADB0975 Image Caption: Training ground laughs with James Pattinson and David Warner ahead of Ashes 2013 // Getty
Image Id: ~/media/0EA1965624064DD692043871C0CDB95C Image Caption: Applauding Ashton Agar off the pitch, who fell for 98 on debut, while Hughes remained unbeaten on 81 // Getty

However, one Test later at Lord’s, Hughes could only manage a single in each innings in what would be his last appearance in a Baggy Green for Australia.

As he had done so many times before, Hughes returned to first-class cricket and piled on the runs, scoring his maiden double-century against Western Australia in November 2013.

Image Id: ~/media/3B347F35F00643C19942A1C1FC7FEA66 Image Caption: Double-ton of fun. An elated Hughes celebrated his maiden first-class double-hundred // Getty

Hughes would once again post Bradman-like numbers, this time for Australia A against the touring India A and South Africa A in the 2014 winter.

He would become the first man in Australian domestic cricket to score 200 in a 50 over one-day game, before scoring his second first-class double-century with a commanding 243 not out against South Africa A in Townsville.

Image Id: ~/media/B04B41590319416DB93DE5506E53F88B Image Caption: Across the Australia A series in mid 2014, Hughes would score three hundreds and two fifties for a total of 756 runs at an average of 108 // Getty

Hughes was recalled to the Test squad for Australia's series against Pakistan in the UAE in October 2014, but was overlooked by selectors for both Tests.

Image Id: ~/media/6F456ADB4008420F91FD3503AE11C4EA Image Caption: Through thick and thin, Hughes never lost that cheeky smile // Getty

Until the very end, Phillip Hughes was doing what Phillip Hughes did best – compiling runs in his own unique fashion. His final innings finished 63 not out.

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