A lone cricket bat rested against the coffin at a packed service in his former high school hall in Macksville on the New South Wales coast in front of parents, family, friends and a shattered Australian Test team.
“Taken from the game, his family and loved ones at the age of just 25, left a mark on our game that needs no embellishment," said teary-eyed captain Michael Clarke at the funeral. “I don't know about you but I keep looking for him.”
Hughes, who had played 26 Tests and was on the cusp of a recall, died last Thursday after being hit on the base of the skull by a rising ball at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) during a domestic match.
Clarke added he that he had walked onto the SCG pitch on Thursday night. “Those same blades of grass beneath my feet where he and I and so many of his mates here today have built partnerships, taken chances and lived out the dreams we painted in our heads as boys,” he said. “I stood there at the wicket, I knelt down and touched the grass, I swear he was with me, telling me we just needed to dig in and get through to tea.”
Clarke said the tributes offered have helped him cope, from a little girl holding a candle in tribute to masters of the game such as Sachin Tendulkar expressing sorrow.
“This is what makes our game the greatest game in the world. We must dig in and get through to tea. And we must play on," he added. “So rest in peace my little brother. I will see you out in the middle.”
In Hughes' small hometown of Macksville, tributes to the opening batsman hung in shop windows, while ribbons in the green and gold colours of the Australian Test team adorned telephone poles.
Macksville itself, with a population of just 2,500, welcomed greats such as Shane Warne, Brian Lara, Glenn McGrath, Virat Kohli and Hughes’ first Test skipper Ricky Ponting.
Sean Abbott, the young man who bowled the fast ball that struck Hughes, also attended, as did Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
Hughes’ parents Greg and Virginia and siblings invited the whole town to the service at the Macksville High School, where about 1,000 crammed into the hall and hundreds more watched on screens in overflow areas.
The shops of Macksville closed and its residents were in mourning. At Hughes's old primary school, St Patrick's, dozens of bats lined the front fence; many bearing messages remembering the hugely popular opener who was not out on 63 when he was struck.
As a summer storm threatened after a hot day, hundreds walked along the street behind the hearse carrying Hughes' coffin, some nodding their heads, others applauding out of respect for the cricketer. Cap 408 has been laid to rest.
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