The late Phil Hughes’ memory lives on in the Australian dressing room. A gold blazer bearing his Test cap number — 408 — is the top prize for the player voted Man of the Match by team-mates, spinner Nathan Lyon has revealed.
Hughes, a top-order batsman, died in 2014 after being hit by a bouncer during a domestic match. To honour his memory, the Australian team started this new tradition.
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“It is the Man-of-the-Match jacket made in honour of Phillip Hughes,” Lyon told Fox Sports here. “The players vote after each match and whoever owns the jacket at the time, which is the last Man-of-the-Match winner, has the opportunity to pass it on in the next match,” he added.
Lyon won the Man of the Match award in the second Test against India, after Australia’s 146-run win.
‘Very special jacket’
The four-match series is currently tied at 1-1. The off-spinner, who was his team-mates’ choice for the best player in the opening Test in Adelaide, took eight wickets on what was expected to be a pace-friendly track here.
“I have jacket after Adelaide, so I have the decision to who to pass it on to,” Lyon said. “It is a very special jacket for a number of reasons. Whoever wears this tonight will wear it down to the bar and have a couple of drinks in it and look pretty special walking around in it,” he added.
The blazer bears the names of players and the details of their performances. Australian legend Adam Gilchrist, Lyon’s interviewer for Fox Sports , said it was a touching gesture by the team. “It is a wonderful piece of acknowledgment for a lost friend of Australian cricket and it is obviously particularly close to this current bunch of Australian cricketers, who played alongside Phil Hughes,” Gilchrist said.
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