Full name : Phillip Joel Hughes
Born : November 30, 1988, Macksville, New South Wales
Current age : 20 years
Major teams : Australia, Australia A, Australia Under-19s, Middlesex, New South Wales, New South Wales Under-19s, Western Suburbs
Playing role : Opening batsman
Batting style : Left-hand bat
Profile
Phillip Hughes tried not to tremble during his four-ball duck on Test debut in Johannesburg. For the next week Australian supporters were shaking over the apparently streaky composure of the left-hander who was supposed to be the next Matthew Hayden. The fears didn't last long and by the end of his first Test series he had showed he was an unconventional but highly accomplished starter. At 20, Hughes was Australia's youngest debutant since Craig McDermott 25 years earlier, and when he recorded twin centuries in Durban - he brought up his maiden hundred with two sixes - he was the youngest to achieve the feat.
The 415 runs in three Tests were followed by centuries in each of his three County Championship games for Middlesex, proving he could adapt to the early-season conditions in a stunning streak which further irritated England supporters who were angry he was given the chance to fine-tune before the Ashes. Fans in both countries have been surprised by the success of his country-baked technique, which includes compulsive slicing through point and slashing to cover, as well as stepping away to provide room for tennis-style drives down the ground.
After wowing the national selectors in 2007-08, when at 19 he became the youngest to score a century in a Pura Cup final, Hughes piled up 819 more Sheffield Shield runs in his second summer. His timing was impeccable - Australia were looking for someone to take over from Matthew Hayden - and a week before the squad for South Africa was picked, he posted 151 and 82 not out against Tasmania.
Already he was the youngest New South Wales player since Michael Clarke, making his state debut aged 18 years and 355 days - 111 days older than Clarke in 1999-2000. The blond hair and shiny earring added to the similarity, though in batting style his rough technique is more like that of Simon Katich or Phil Jaques, his state team-mates. It was the absence of Jaques that allowed Hughes to debut and his 51 against Tasmania was a positive start. He followed with a level-headed 68 in his first one-day game, at the MCG against Victoria, and even spent nine overs as the acting wicketkeeper when Brad Haddin left the field injured.
By the end of that season he owned 559 first-class runs at 62.11 and beat Martin Love's record as the youngest centurion in a first-class final when he picked up 116 in the second innings of the victory over Victoria. The rise showed no sign of stopping when he started the following pre-season in India with Australia A and things blossomed from there. In addition to his Test call-up, Hughes was the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year, the Sheffield Shield Player of the Year and won the Blues' Steve Waugh Medal. Pretty impressive stuff for a young man who grew up on a banana farm in northern New South Wales.
