Rich eulogies at Phillip Hughes' funeral: Who said what
Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes died on Thursday at St. Vincent’s Hospital after being hit by a bouncer on his head during a Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on November 25. His funeral took place today (December 3) at his hometown Macksville, with father Gregory Hughes, elder brother Jason Hughes, Australian Test captain Michael Clarke, family friends Corey Ireland, Mitchell Lonergan, Matthew Day and fellow cricketers Aaron Finch and Tom Cooper being the pallbearers. Here is a compilation of the eulogies paid to the deceased left-hander: Note: Quotes taken from The Guardian’s coverage
#6 Nino Ramunno, Phillip Hughes\' cousin
Ramunno recalled how Phillip Hughes was introduced to the game. Phillip initially refused to play as a replacement for his older brother Jason, but then yielded, as he didn’t want to risk being bullied as a ‘wuss’ by his family members. He said: “From that moment he fell in love with the game. That was the start of hundreds, if not thousands of games of backyard cricket held in various backyards of East Street, Macksville.”
He scored 25 runs in that match coming in as a lower order batsman.
Mummy’s boy
Phillip’s professional career began with a 64 for Nambucca-Bellingen Under-12s team. Ramunno also said that despite becoming close with his father as his cricket career progressed, Phillip was always a ‘mummy’s boy’.
“He would call his mum every day without fail, referring to her as Mummy, Vinnie and Mum. When Phillip used the greeting Mum, aunty Virginia knew Phillip needed to talk. Phillip idolised his mother and would often seek her guidance as advice as part of those daily calls.“
He concluded by praising Phillip’s toughness, rating it as something beyond his years. “When he got knocked down he would simply dust himself off, set goals to get better. I’d never ever once heard him complain about being drop from the Australian team. His mental strength was beyond his years. And when he faced a situation he would treat it as another challenge that he would overcome and believe that he would come back bigger and stronger and preferring to pile on runs.
“I’ll miss you greatly, Cuz, but I’ll never forget you and the great times we shared.”