SYDNEY-
Australia captain Michael Clarke will act as a pall bearer at Phillip Hughes’ funeral in his home town of Macksville on Wednesday.
The funeral of the former Test batsman, who died last week after being hit on the neck by a bouncer in a Sheffield Shield match, will also be attended by the full Australia men’s and women’s squads and many more major figures from the world of cricket.
The service at Hughes’ old school is expected to last an hour and will begin with the opening music ‘Forever Young’ and conclude with ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me’.
Hughes died three days before his 26th birthday.
His funeral will be broadcast and relayed on big screens in the Macksville High School grounds to up to 4,000 residents of the small coastal town in northern New South Wales.
West Indies and New Zealand greats Brian Lara and Sir Richard Hadlee will be among those attending, as well as a who’s who of Australian cricketers of the past two decades and members of the touring Indian team.
Clarke will also deliver a tribute to his friend, while Hughes’ former state and international team-mates Tom Cooper and Aaron Finch will be pall bearers too.
After the service, all current and former cricketers present will be invited to form a guard of honour.
England captain Alastair Cook will not be among them, because he is with his one-day international team in Sri Lanka, but Test batsmen Nick Compton and Sam Robson are expected to be in attendance.
It is understood the England and Wales Cricket Board will be sending a high-profile representative to Hughes’ planned state memorial service – on a date yet to be announced.
Clarke took to Instagram on Tuesday to post a picture of him and Hughes with their arms around each other while playing for Australia, with the message: “Tomorrow is going to be a tough day!”
