Australia cricket fraternity will raise a toast to Phil Hughes, reveals Justin Langer
On the fifth death anniversary of the left-handed opener Phil Hughes, the Australian team including head coach Justin Langer will raise a ‘toast’ in remembrance of the left-handed batsman. Further, Langer admitted that it was one of the worst days in the lives of Australian cricketers.
Australia’s head coach Justin Langer said that the Australian team will raise a toast to “absent friends” in memory of Hughes, who passed away five years ago on the 25th of November. The left-handed opener was struck viciously by a Sean Abbott bouncer when he was batting at 63* for South Australia in Sydney.
Hughes suffered a brain haemorrhage, died without regaining consciousness. Prior to the incident, the left-handed batsman had donned the yellow jersey 26 times while featuring 25 times in the longest format for the national team. The Australian was on the cusp of making a comeback into the national team following months of absence from the playing XI in the Test format.
"Time flies. I still remember, one of the worst days of our life, and we'll toast absent friends today. I'm sure we will talk about it today when we get to the Adelaide Oval," Langer said in a video clip posted by cricket.co.au.
Further, the Adelaide Oval has pictures of Hughes hanging on the wall in a tribute to the opener. The Australian coach also confirmed that it is a regular tradition where the team raise a toast to their absent friends.
"How lucky we are to be playing cricket, representing our country, being in Adelaide, being at the Adelaide Oval - they're always nice reminders. I'm sure that's what Hughesy would like too. He will be smiling down on us somewhere going 'just remember, you have got it pretty good you boys," added Langer.
"After the T20 game here (against Sri Lanka), there's a beautiful picture of Hughesy in the change rooms. After we had our debriefing, and we toasted absent friends. Like we do every time we walk into the change room," he concluded.