Michael Clarke recalls disturbing phase of life post Phillip Hughes
Michael Clarke recalls disturbing phase of life post Phillip Hughes
Former Australia captain Michael Clarke recalled the shocking moment when he lost Phillip Hughes, with the help of his autobiography ‘My Story’ that is to be launched on October 18. Hughes death occurred two years ago just three days before he could turn 25 years. Clarke admitted he was under pressure to keep playing and did not pause to process Hughes’s sudden death and its impact on him. “Nothing has been quite right since Hughesy,” he wrote. After Hughes’s death, the Australian cricket summer was thrown into turmoil with the four-Test series against India postponed. At the time, there was innuendo the series might be cancelled as the players grieved. ALSO READ: Phillip Hughes’ family walks out of inquest, terms SCG as “unsafe workplace”
Clarke mentioned as reported on daily telegraph, “I can see that now. I’ve gone through good moments at times, even such career highs as winning the World Cup and winning a Test match at Lord’s. But throughout it all, there was something not quite right with me, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. Maybe it was too obvious, or too frightening to face. I never grieved,” he added.
Clarke also said, they were pressurised to play the Adelaide Test soon after Hughes funeral. “One minute I was at war with Cricket Australia, with the selectors and the high-performance manager, and the next minute the world came to an end. But then Hughesy’s funeral was behind us, CA was anxious to get the Test series with India going, and the world started spinning again.” ALSO READ: Sean Abbott was upset for days after Phillip Hughes death, suggests investigation
He further added, “Unanimously, we want to play the Adelaide Test match as a tribute to Hughesy and for his family, but the timing has to be right,” he wrote. “Eventually an agreement is struck to begin the match on 9 December, six days after the funeral. In retrospect, most of us would agree that it is still too soon.” Soon after that, Clarke suffered suerious injury that derailed his World Cup entry a few months later. But soon after his entry, Clarke guided Australia to home victory of the tournament.
He concluded writing, “Throughout all that, I never gave myself time to grieve for my mate. I’m thinking about Hughesy 24×7, but my mind hasn’t been able to stop and take it all in. I’m still half-expecting a text from him. His number is in my phone. He’s still there, in a corner of my mind. I have Hughesy constantly in my mind.”