Cricinfo - Players and Officials

Full name Phillip Joel Hughes
Born November 30, 1988, Macksville, New South Wales
Current age 19 years 318 days
Major teams Australia A, Australia Under-19s, New South Wales, New South Wales Under-19s, Western Suburbs
Playing role Opening batsman
Batting style Left-hand bat

Batting and fielding averages

Mat

Inns

Runs

Ave

100

First-class

611

116

43.64

1105

55.29

List A

281

40.14

426

65.96

Bowling averages

Mat

Inns

Balls

Runs

Wkts

BBI

BBM

Ave

Econ

First-class

List A

Career statistics

First-class debut

New South Wales v Tasmania at Sydney, Nov 20-23, 2007 scorecard

Last First-class

Western Australia v New South Wales at Perth, Oct 10-13, 2008 scorecard

List A debut

Victoria v New South Wales at Melbourne, Nov 28, 2007 scorecard

Last List A

Western Australia v New South Wales at Perth, Oct 8, 2008 scorecard

Blond hair, shiny earring and a precocious New South Wales batting talent: the Michael Clarke comparisons were always inevitable for Phillip Hughes. He added to the similarity in 2007-08 when he became the youngest player since Clarke to make his first-class debut for the Blues, at 18 years and 355 days - 111 days older than Clarke in 1999-2000. He was installed at the top of the order as the replacement for his fellow left-hander Phil Jaques and made an excellent start with 51 on debut against Tasmania. 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 the season he owned 559 first-class runs at 62.11 and the record for the youngest batsman to score a century in a Pura Cup final. Aged 19, Hughes beat Martin Love 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. From a banana-farming family on the New South Wales north coast, Hughes worked his way to his first-class debut with impressive efforts in the Emerging Players Tournaments and for the Australia Under-19s, including a tally of 324 runs at 108 against the Pakistan Under-19s in April 2007.
Cricinfo staff September 2008

Oct 8, 2008

Brett Dorey celebrates Phillip Hughes' dismissal © Getty Images

Mar 19, 2008

Phillip Hughes, Simon Katich and Brett Lee celebrate New South Wales' Pura Cup triumph © Getty Images

Mar 18, 2008

Phillip Hughes clutches a catch on the third grab © Getty Images

View the full list of 12 related images