RIP Phil Hughes

CRICKET is mourning the loss of a player, no not a legend from yesteryear but a current player who went out with his bat on Tuesday morning.

Sadly Phil Hughes never returned to the pavilion but will always be 63 not out in the hearts and minds of all who knew him and those who had the pleasure of watching him.

The left hander was struck by a bouncer from Sean Abbott during the game, fell to the ground and never regained conciousness.

At this time the only blessing the cricket world can take is the fact he was apparently in no pain when he passed.

As well as the pleasure of watching him bat, I grabbed an interview with him following a man of the match performance for Worcestershire against Essex in 2012.

He'd already done an interview with Sky Sports but I approached him and after a 'sure mate' he spoke for five minutes, humble, honest and a guy who loved to play cricket.

The tributes show what a great guy he clearly was and my sympathies to the Australian team and especially to the lads in the Worcestershire dressing room.

Our thoughts should go to Sean Abbott as well, he was doing his job as a fast bowler, trying to unsettle Hughes and get him out.

The bouncer isn't designed to kill, a few inches in the other direction and all Hughes would have suffered is a 

headache.

As well as showing love and support for Phil Hughes family and friends, I hope we all remember Sean Abbott.

Heaven already had a damn good cricket team, sadly it now has a talented left hander to add to its ranks.

RIP Phil, sleep well

RIP Damien D'Oliveira

I GOT home from taking my wife to work to find Damien D’Oliveira, academy manager at Worcestershire CCC, had lost his two year battle with cancer.

Although it was clear Damien was ill, the news of his passing has come as a great shock and looking at the tributes on Twitter it’s clear it’s not just the cricketing world in mourning today.

From respected cricketing journalists like Edward Bevan and Steve James to the likes of Peter Oborne, the social medium was used to pay tribute to Damien and his family.

Son of the legendary England batsman Basil D’Oliveira, Damien’s own career never hit the international heights but he was a loyal county servant to Worcestershire.

And after hanging up his bat, ‘Dolly’ continued his and his family’s association with the county by becoming a coach and later academy manager at New Road.

I have no doubt there is a lot of sadness at New Road today as the Pears begin their match with Glamorgan.

All of the batsmen will walk to the wicket sad at Dolly’s passing, many will owe that walk to Damien’s work at the academy.

I was lucky enough to work as a journalist for the Worcester Standard for 15 months and during that time I was able to go to the club’s media day at New Road.

While there you could see how loved Dolly was by the players and staff such as coach Steve Rhodes and chief executive David Leatherdale.

You can’t be a journalist in the city without knowing how important the surname D’Oliveira is to the county, I was lucky to see it in action on the field first hand.

Basil’s grandson and Damien’s son is a fine leg spinner in the making and I hope his talent and the will of the cricketing gods combine to further Brett’s career.

Who knows, maybe the D’Oliveira name may once again grace and England team sheet?

My prayers and thoughts are with Damien’s family, friends and everyone associated with Worcestershire CCC.

RIP Damien, may you now be at peace