That Hughes went on to post 75 in his second Test innings was a credit to his determination. His runs didn’t come easily, nor prettily, but it was impossible to look away during his 159-minute innings

Brydon Coverdale at the Wanderers01-Mar-2009
There was barely a dull moment during Phillip Hughes’ first substantial Test innings © Getty Images
Phillip Hughes has taken over from his fellow left-hander MatthewHayden as Australia’s Test opener but that’s about where thesimilarity ends. The pair couldn’t be less physically alike andHughes’ first substantial innings at international level has alsoshown that, apart from having the confidence to go for his shots, hisbatting style bears little resemblance to that of his predecessor.Hayden was big in every sense of the word and so imposing that when hewalked at the bowler it was easy to imagine his thunderous presenceopening up new cracks in the pitch. Hughes, at 170 centimetres, is soslight that on a particularly bad surface he could almost slip throughone of those fissures. It shouldn’t be any great surprise, then, thatthe men handle fast bowling rather differently.It’s hard to remember Hayden ever backing away from a bouncer; hepreferred to hook or duck. Hughes, who edged behind when he flashed ata high, wide bouncer from Dale Steyn in the first innings, was heavilytested by short stuff in his second innings. The South Africans weresurprised by his strange technique. As Steyn delivered a threateningbarrage, Hughes shuffled backwards in a manner that brought to mindStuart MacGill more than Matthew Hayden.But while he backed away he wasn’t backing down. Hughes was preparedto use the pace and cut over the cordon, which is a method he hasemployed since he played A-grade cricket at the age of 12 in the NewSouth Wales town of Macksville. When the older fast bowlers would tryto rattle the precocious kid with bouncers, Hughes refused to bebullied and regularly rocked back to slash them over the slips.Fast-forward eight years and not much has changed.”I thought that was the outstanding part of it, that he did stand upfor himself,” Australia’s coach Tim Nielsen said. “He took thechallenge on, head on. They’re good quality fast bowlers and theybowled fast and they bowled aggressively at him. There was obviouslysome bi-play going on out there and they were trying to get under hisskin but he really hung in there and he was willing to take them onwith some aggressive cricket.”That Hughes went on to post 75 in his second Test innings was a creditto his determination. His runs didn’t come easily, nor prettily, butit was impossible to look away during his 159-minute innings. He isparticularly strong square of the wicket and when he was given widthhe cut with reckless abandon, sometimes through point if not over thecordon. Balls were driven uppishly wide of fielders and there wasbarely a dull moment during his charmed existence.Twice Hughes was caught behind off his gloves from Morne Morkelbouncers but both times he was reprieved by the umpire Billy Bowdenand the South African captain Graeme Smith, who wasn’t certain enoughto ask for referrals. At 20, Hughes is a year younger than Smith waswhen he made his Test debut. While the two men were in the middlelocked in battle, Nielsen felt as though he was watching a raw versionof the South African captain.”I wouldn’t be surprised in the future if you see Phillip Hughesplaying similar roles to what Graeme Smith does for South Africa as anopening batsman,” Nielsen said. “He’s going to be a pugnacious, strongbackfoot player that’s willing to take on any contest and he’s shownthat in his first Test today.”“I wouldn’t be surprised in the future if you see Phillip Hughes playing similar roles to what Graeme Smith does for South Africa as anopening batsman. He’s going to be a pugnacious, strong backfoot player that’s willing to take on any contest”Tim NielsenWhen Hughes brought up his half-century with one of his mostconventional shots, a terrific off-drive to the boundary off Morkel,he was congratulated by his partner and captain Ricky Ponting. AfterHughes acknowledged the crowd’s applause, Ponting made a special pointof walking up to his new colleague and handing out some advice.Whatever it was, it didn’t seem to include a smile.But there must have been plenty of happy faces in Macksville, whereHughes was raised in a banana-farming family. It’s a small townbetween Sydney and Brisbane that prompted the travel writer BillBryson to write: “It is possible, I suppose, to construct hypotheticalcircumstances in which you would be pleased to find yourself, at theend of a long day, in Macksville.” Bryson went on to clarify that itwouldn’t be his feeling in the normal course of events.At the end of a long day on Thursday, the locals weren’t too happyeither. They had been promised free beer at one of the town’s pubs foras long as Hughes’ first innings lasted. Four balls gave them barelylong enough to get to the front of the queue at the bar. At least whenhe scored his half-century in the second innings it was duringprime-time in Australia, even if the beer wasn’t free.When he slammed Paul Harris over midwicket for six it looked like hemight have enough luck on his side to join Marcus North in scoring acentury on debut. But his fortune soon ran out. Hughes glanced a catchto leg slip later in the same over and walked off having shown histremendous talent but also some potential weaknesses.He’ll never play just like Hayden, who before the tour advised Hughesto “be himself”. Nor will he ever look like the mountainous Smith, butif he increases the batting resemblance to South Africa’s captain thatso impressed his coach, Hughes will be a supremely valuable man foryears to come.