Tale of two tragedie

1933 and 2014 are among the saddest years in cricket history. We all recall the tragic death of Phil Hughes in November 2014 when hit by a bouncer while batting in a Sheffield Shield match on the Sydney Cricket Ground.

It came as a shock to me that more than five years have passed since that tragedy! It seemed it happened only last year. He was only 25 years old, three days short of his 26th birthday.

More about this likeable person and promising cricketer later on.

Another tragedy of epic proportion took place when another Australian batsman Archie Jackson passed away in February 1933 aged only 23.

Scotland-born Jackson was an elegant batsman and a contemporary of Don Bradman. While lying in hospital on what was to be his death-bed he got engaged to his girlfriend Phyllis Thomas. Knowledgeable critics opined that Jackson was a prolific run-getter like Bradman and as elegant as another Aussie icon Vic Trumper.

England’s cricket writer David Frith called Jackson the Keats of cricket. The famous poet Keats had also died young, aged 25. Thousands had arrived at the cemetery to mourn the tragic end of Archie Jackson, a precocious sporting legend.

Jackson's heart-rending passing away from tuberculosis at the tragically young age meant that he gave only glimpses of what might have been. To quote Martin Williamson from CricInfo, “Jackson was a graceful batsman, his innings punctuated by delicate leg-glances, wristy flicks through the covers and exquisite footwork.”

Although almost a year younger than Bradman, Jackson was the first of the pair to make his first-class debut by 13 months. His first-grade debut for Balmain came when he was only a month past his 15th birthday. Author David Frith believes this to be a record.

Jackson started the 1926-27 season in terrific form and the 17 year-old was called up by New South Wales for the game against Queensland in Brisbane. He scored 5 and 86 on his debut and 4 and 100 in his second outing a week later. Jackson retained his place until a run of low scores, coupled with a boil on his knee, forced him to miss New South Wales’ match against South Australia in December 1927. His place was taken by Bradman, who scored 118 and 33 on debut. Jackson, returned to the side as an opener, gave promise of things to come with  two hundreds. He was picked for a post-season tour to New Zealand with an Australian XI while Bradman stayed at home.

It was Bradman, however, who played for Australia first, 11 months after his New South Wales debut. Both men had featured in the Test trial but neither had made runs, although Bradman ensured his selection with three hundreds in his next four innings.

Jackson had to wait till the fourth Ashes Test of 1928-29 to make his Test debut. He hit a magnificent 164 and a remarkable career was predicted by the critics.

He struggled for form on the 1930 tour of England. However, his courageous 73 in The Oval Test when he added 243 for the fourth wicket with Bradman was indeed a highlight. Sadly, his successes were made despite his failing health and his appearances grew rarer.

Against England in 1928-29 he finished the series with 468 runs at 66.85, missing the second Test when he was dropped for the only time in his career. Jackson debuted in the fourth Test, following weeks of public pressure for him to play. Opening the innings, Australia slid to 3 for 19 against Harold Larwood and Maurice Tate bowling at terrific pace. But Jackson stroked his way to 164, the manner of his scoring was as awesome as the runs themselves.

When he toured England in 1930, the Sydney Morning Herald described him as “the greatest of present-day batsmen”, even though Bradman was also on the trip. All eyes were on the NSW pair. But while Bradman, whose career was also blighted by illness, went from strength to strength, Jackson struggled with poor health and with that his form also deserted him. Still, he showed enough touches of class to win over many seasoned observers, some who still regarded him as better than Bradman.

A hundred at Taunton - it was said the West Country sun had thawed him out - meant he was restored for the final Test at The Oval, and there he played his bravest innings. On a treacherous pitch and with Larwood at his most hostile, Jackson “took frequent shuddering blows to the body” but still was in line for the next delivery. The pair added 243 for the fourth wicket, Jackson's share being a courageous 73. It helped win the match for Australia and with it the Ashes.

But Jackson was unwell. It was nothing major - or so it seemed - but he kept being sidelined. He struggled in four Tests against West Indies, and was dropped after the Melbourne Test in March 1931. It was to be his last first-class match.

He was picked for the first NSW match of 1931-32 but was caught in a rainstorm, and collapsed in his hotel room coughing up blood shortly before the team left for the ground. He was rushed to hospital, but believing he had flu, discharged himself.

At the insistence of the Australian board he was taken to a sanatorium but proved a poor patient. Restless, he often sneaked off into Sydney to see friends. Nevertheless, he appeared to make a good recovery. In 1932 he moved north to Queensland, believing the warmer climate would help him, and he was appointed as a coach to the Queensland Cricket Association.

He died on February 16, 1933, the day that England regained the Ashes in the Bodyline series.

Bring the calendar a further 81 years to see another promising career stolen by tragedy. The tragic passing away of Phillip Hughes at the age of 25 on 27 November 2014 plunged cricket world in grief. I have not seen Australia mourn for a sportsman so much as on that day. He was too young, too talented and too lovable to die.

When batting he was hit on his helmeted head by a bouncer in the Sheffield Shield match between South Australia and New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground two days before his farewell to life.

A country lad, Hughes bore physical and statistical resemblance to another endearing cricketing legend Doug Walters. Walters had scored two centuries in his first two Tests against England at Brisbane and Melbourne in 1965-66.

Hughes also made centuries in his first two Tests but with a difference. After making a duck in his first Test innings against South Africa at Johannesburg in February 2009, the 20-year-old made 75 in the second innings. Then in the second Test in Durban the next month, he became the youngest man to score a century in each innings of a Test when he registered 115 and 160 against South Africa.

“It’s very exciting,” Phil had said. “I didn’t actually know about that record until I walked into the sheds and a couple of guys mentioned it but it was one very special moment.”

Ups and downs, downs and ups were the features of Phillip Joel Hughes’ short international career as he was in and out of the Australian Test teams. Hughsy from a banana farm in Macksville had many exciting and frustrating moments at all levels of the game but he took it all smiling. That cheeky smile and never-say-die spirit made up his persona.

Although confident, he had humility. I remember talking with him at the SCG nets a few years before the on-field tragedy. I told him that his daring stroke-play reminded me of India’s aggressive opener Virender Sehwag. And he modestly replied, “But Sehwag is a great batsman.”

I was not fortunate enough to have a chat with Archie Jackson. But if I was born a few decades earlier and had told him that he reminded me of Bradman, he would have replied equally modestly, “But Bradman is a great batsman.”

Everyone in the cricket world was devastated by the passing away of two mega-talented super stars Archie and Hughsy in their mid-twenties, 81 years apart. From the Prime Minister to the man on the street, they sent their tributes to someone they had never met.

Below are the statistics of Archie Jackson and Phil Hughes at Test and at first-class levels:

Player	Tests	Runs	Average	HS	100s	50s	Catches	Wkts.
Jackson	8	474	47.40	164	1	2	7	0
Hughes	26	1535	32.65	160	3	7	15	0

Player	Matches	Runs	Average	HS	100s	50s	Catches	Wkts.
Jackson	70	4383	45.65	182	11	23	26	0
Hughes	114	9023	46.51	243*	26	46	72	0

HS = Highest score   * = not out