Sydney: He has rarely shown emotion on the field but former Australian captain Steve Waugh was emotional as he spoke about his teenager son Austin breaking down after hearing the news of Phillip Hughes’ death.
“I always respected the fact he (Hughes) talked to my son. In fact, when I told Austin yesterday that he’d passed away my young boy broke down in tears,” Waugh was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.
“A very uncomplicated man. I think what sums him up is the few times I went back to the change rooms and I’d take my young boy, Austin. He’d always say ‘hello’ to me and then have the long conversation with Austin, talk about cricket and how he was going and what he was doing. I think he could see himself in those younger players coming up and aspiring to play for Australia.”
Waugh feels that Hughes didn’t get his due as he was dropped as many as five times in 26 Test matches. Interestingly, Waugh didn’t forget to remind, that he got his first of his 32 Test hundreds in his believe it or not 26th match.
“He was dropped five times in 26 Test matches and to put that in perspective, I never scored my first hundred until my 26th Test match. So, he certainly wasn’t given the extended run that he required and all young players need that time and support and belief they’re going to be there for a long time.”
PTI