- City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
- Dubai 04:24 05:43 12:19 15:46 18:51 20:09
Long called upon to rescue his team from treacherous situations, Australia captain Michael Clarke could do little to save his close friend Phillip Hughes, but bore his grief quietly in a vital supporting role for his "little brother's" family.
Clarke was among the first to arrive at St Vincent's hospital on Tuesday after Hughes was rushed there with a sickening head injury and read the family's statement upon his death, three days before his 26th birthday.
A special video tribute to Phillip Hughes, put together by @AC_Goldie. #PhillipHughes408 https://t.co/DtonutiEss
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) November 27, 2014
In between, the 33-year-old was rarely away from the bedside of the player he mentored and ushered into New South Wales and later the national team.
TV footage showed Clarke walking briskly through the Sydney hospital's doors early every morning and trudging out despondent much later in the day.
He returned at six in the morning on Thursday, perhaps hoping for some better news as Hughes, who never regained consciousness after being struck on the neck by a rising delivery in a domestic match, entered a third day in an induced coma.
Unshaven, with rings under his eyes, Clarke's head was bowed as he read the family statement, his voice clear if a little gravelly. He didn't trip on a single word but after reading the final phrase - "we love you" - he exited quickly, overcome.
"Phillip has always been a little brother to Michael," team doctor Peter Brukner said, his voice quivering with emotion.
"Michael's efforts over the last 48 hours to support the family - the family was obviously going through a difficult time - but I'm not sure they would have coped without Michael's assistance.
While we all mourn the loss of Phillip Hughes, please spare a thought for Sean Abbott: https://t.co/r980alz5F3 pic.twitter.com/OsmFSOHRPN
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) November 27, 2014
RIP my little man. You will always be with me when I walk out onto the field. Not just a mate but a… https://t.co/PEp8HSwGqQ
— David Warner (@davidwarner31) November 27, 2014
Grief-stricken Clarke's leadership will be needed in coming days, even without a ball bowled in anger.
Rare
Batsman Phillip Hughes died of an "incredibly rare" condition after he was hit in the neck by a cricket ball, causing bleeding into his brain, his Australian doctors said Thursday.
"We love you" - @MClarke23 on behalf of Phillip Hughes's family as the cricket world mourns: https://t.co/CP5eqB6E2B https://t.co/82jdiYP3EW
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) November 27, 2014
"This was a freakish accident because it was an injury to the neck that caused haemorrhage in the brain. The condition is incredibly rare," Australian team doctor Peter Brukner told reporters.
"Only 100 cases ever reported - this is incredibly rare. Only one ever case reported as a result of a cricket ball."
Tony Grabs, the head of trauma surgery at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney where Hughes was taken, described the "catastrophic" injury as "very rare and very freakish".
Brukner said the blow to the left-hander's neck compressed his vertebral artery - one of the main arteries that leads to the brain - causing it to split and bleed into the brain.
While such an injury is "frequently fatal at the time", Brukner said Cricket NSW team doctor John Orchard, paramedics and an intensive care specialist in the crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground were able to keep the batsman alive before he was taken to nearby St Vincent's in a "reasonable condition".
Grabs said doctors ordered a CAT scan soon after Hughes arrived and then took the decision to operate on the cricketer to reduce the pressure on his brain.
"He went to... theatre to remove some of the skull around his brain to help to allow the brain to expand so it wasn't compressed," Grabs said, adding that the surgery took about 80 minutes before Hughes was taken back to the intensive care unit.
"After this we need to induce a coma to rest the patient and rest the brain and look after all the other bodily functions for him.
"Over a period of the first 24 to 48 hours, as we know, he did not make very much improvement. And unfortunately as a consequence of the injury, he died."
Phillip Hughes: A career in pictures: https://t.co/TUoKo0uxLB pic.twitter.com/gA7OOOz9DR
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) November 27, 2014
Governing body Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed the 25-year-old had lost his fight for life, casting a pall over the cricket-mad nation who are co-hosting the World Cup early next year.
"We are extremely sad to announce that Phillip Hughes has passed away at the age of 25," CA said on its Twitter feed.
"Our thoughts go out to Phillip's family, friends, and the entire cricket community on this incredibly sad day.
"He was not in pain before he passed and was surrounded by his family and close friends.
"As a cricket community, we mourn his loss and extend our deepest sympathies to Phillips family and friends at this incredibly sad time."
Hughes, who played in 26 Tests and 25 one-day internationals for Australia, had spent a second night at the hospital in an induced coma after having emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain.
He was struck on the head by a ball at the Sydney Cricket Ground when batting for South Australia, a devastating blow that experts compared to the trauma suffered by victims of a car crash.
News of Hughes's death brought a fresh wave of tributes on social media, with past and present players conveying their shock and grief.
"No no no no no. RIP Phillip Hughes," former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist tweeted.
Australia Prime Minister Tony Abbott described Hughes as a "a young man living out his dreams".
"His death is a very sad day for cricket and a heartbreaking day for his family,' Abbott said in a statement.
"What happened has touched millions of Australians.
"For a young life to be cut short playing our national game seems a shocking aberration."
The tragic announcement followed calls by former players for the Australian team to abandon the first test of the four-match series against India next week.
Questions about the response time of ambulances dispatched to the stadium have also been raised.
The head of New South Wales Ambulance was to be hauled before the state health minister Jillian Skinner on Thursday after the ambulance authority issued conflicting statements about their response times.
The arrival of the first ambulance took 15 minutes, NSW Ambulance clarified in a statement on Wednesday.
The state's median response time for the highest priority "life-threatening cases" was just under eight minutes in 2013-14, according the authority's statistics.
Dr Peter Larkins, a leading sports physician, told Reuters: "Time is of the essence when your brain has suffered trauma."
Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.