Thousands Gather in Macksville for Phillip Hughes Funeral
Australia cricket captain Michael Clarke and the rest of his test teammates were joined by former and current players from around the world, and friends and relatives from Hughes' hometown of 2,500 people on the northern coast of New South Wales state, 575 kilometers (350 miles north of Sydney).
The funeral for cricketer Phillip Hughes turned into a celebration of his life on Wednesday despite the grief and sorrow still evident from his death.
Australia captain Michael Clarke and the rest of the Test squad were joined by former and current players from around the world, and friends and relatives from Hughes' hometown of 2,500 people on the northern coast of New South Wales state, 575 kilometers (350 miles north of Sydney).
Clarke was to be a pallbearer and speaker at the funeral service held at the Macksville Recreation Centre and which opened to the song "Forever Young" by Youth Group.
The service was to be closed by Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," the same song the famous entertainer and avid cricket fan performed at a concert last weekend in Germany in tribute to Hughes.
Hughes died last Thursday, aged 25, after being hit near the ear by a ball during a match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
In steaming temperatures of nearly 30 Celsius (85F) early arrivals to the service, including Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, fanned themselves with papers. Most of those who wore sports jackets and blazers had taken them off, some with sleeves of their white shirts rolled up to their elbows.
At the front of the hall, near the altar for the Roman Catholic service, was Hughes' oak brown casket. Flowers and cricket bats, one with his Test cap on the handle, were nearby.
The funeral was broadcast live around Australia on commercial television stations and on video screens at the Adelaide Oval, where the rescheduled first Test with India will start next Tuesday, and the SCG, where a row of 63 bats were propped up against pickets, each with an inscription of a special moment of Hughes' career.
Television footage showed residents of Macksville gathering in a park near the funeral for a telecast. Owners of many shops and businesses shut down to attend the funeral.
Among those to send their condolence messages was West Indies great Viv Richards, who posted on Twitter: "My heart goes out to the family, friends & the people of Macksville honouring their favourite son Phillip today. Viv."
Commemoration ceremonies for Hughes were held in Rome, where the Vatican's cricket team held a memorial Mass. Vatican team captain, the Rev. Anthony Currer, presided over the Tuesday evening service at the Venerable English College, a seminary in Rome. He said the team wanted to show its closeness to Hughes' family "bringing his life before God and bring it to our prayer."