Phillip Hughes tribute: Ricky Ponting reflects on what made Hughes so special
BEN HORNE THE DAILY TELEGRAPH NOVEMBER 25, 2015 8:54AM
“MATE, I’m loving every moment of this. This is what it’s all about.”
Ricky Ponting will never forget these words and the smile that accompanied them from the fresh-faced debutant down the other end, Phillip Hughes.
The former Test skipper has revealed his proudest moment as captain was leading the Hughes-inspired Australians to a stunning upset victory against South Africa in Durban in 2009.
Amid all the tributes and sombre reflections that will understandably pour in for Hughes in the week of his one-year anniversary, Ponting and Simon Katich have celebrated the signature moment of the diminutive opener’s short but sparkling career — his twin hundreds in Durban — in a moving package to air on Fox Sports News 500 on Wednesday.
In just Hughes’ second ever Test match, the left-hander took on the world’s No.1 pace attack on their own patch and smashed two swashbuckling centuries to deliver Australia a famous series victory.
Hughes brought up his maiden ton with back-to-back sixes, an audacious move that Ponting says defined the much missed star who was, in his opinion, on the verge of a stunning career.
“He was a born cricketer. He was a born batsman. He was born to bat, born to make runs and his record looking back at it now was quite remarkable,” Ponting told Fox Sports.
“That shot sums him up as well. A young kid in a hurry. He wanted to make Test match hundreds.
“I know on my Test debut I got to 96 but I wasn’t courageous enough to hit a couple of sixes to bring up my first Test hundred.
“Looking back now I would have loved to see him have another go at international cricket because I know he would have grabbed that opportunity with both hands and he’d be scoring runs all around the world right now.”
Dale Steyn and the Proteas sensed a weakness in Hughes and attacked him from the get go in the first Test in Johannesburg.
After being dismissed for a duck in his first innings, Hughes came out in the second and was immediately under pressure.
“I thought I’d impart my seniority and got down there and said, ‘how you’re going mate’?” recalls Ponting.
“He’s looked at me and with a big smile on his face he’s said, ‘mate, I’m loving every moment of this.’ To hear that come out of a young bloke’s mouth in his first series summed Phil up.”
Ponting admired Hughes for the courage he showed to move away from NSW and start again in South Australia.
He lamented the way Hughes was chopped and changed by selectors over the years and says he’ll miss the youngster’s “infectious personality”.
However, Ponting, filmed almost jumping out of the players’ box when Hughes brought up his maiden hundred, says he will never forget that series in South Africa.
“People have asked me a lot through my career what my career highlights were and I was lucky enough to win World Cups and Ashes series and everything like that but that series to me in South Africa was the one I was most proud to be a part of,” he said.
“We had a very young group of players touring South Africa for the first time and (they) had just beaten us in Australia on the back of the retirements of a lot of our star players.
“It’s more special now. They’re the things you look back on and wish you could do more and more.”
Katich recalls Hughes calmly talking about his beloved bulls in between overs on his way to his first hundred.
“You couldn’t wipe the smile off his face … he was so popular, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say a bad word about Hughesy and that’s a testament to his character,” said Katich.
“There was no doubt he was probably the most popular young kid in the group and the boys loved him.”
