KATHMANDU, DEC 27 - The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has proposed Cricket Australia (CA) to give a unique tribute to deceased Australia batsman Phillip Hughes by placing one of his bats and attire at the Mt Everest.
The proposal has received a positive response from the cricket governing body of Australia with Hughes’ family giving a nod to the gesture. Hughes fell unconscious at the Sydney Cricket Ground after he was struck by a bouncer at the base of his skull during a Sheffield Shield four-day match on November 25 against New South Wales while he was playing for South Australia.
Two days later, Hughes succumbed to the injury leaving the cricketing world in a mourning. People across the world including high profile international cricketers had paid tribute to Hughes, while #putoutyourbats was one of the campaigns that was followed all over the world.
“The death of Hughes is a big loss to international cricket and it has left the world cricket in mourning. So we thought of giving a tribute to him in a peculiar way,” Bhawana Ghimire, Chief Executive Officer of the CAN said. CAN is also preparing for a 63-over tribute match between Nepali national cricket team and a team lead by an Australian international at the Tribhuvan University Stadium grounds. Hughes was batting at 63 not out when he was struck by the fatal bouncer.
While the unique initiation from the CAN has been widely covered in international media, the Hughes’ family has also approved it. “ Phillip Hughes ’ family has given their blessing to an initiative proposed by the Cricket Association of Nepal to play a 63-over tribute match in the country and place a bat at the top of Mt Everest in honour of the former Test batsman,” a report in the Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph said. “Hughes’ family won’t have any official involvement in the tribute revealed by Cricket Australia Chairman Wally Edwards at an MCG lunch, but they’ve given it their full support,” the report further added.
Although a final confirmation is yet to be received from CA, the two cricket governing bodies are said to have been working together to make the plan happen in the next climbing season in March and April, with an Australian cricketer set to travel and skipper one of the two sides for the tribute-match. Ghimire said CAN will now work forward to finalise the plans. “We will now coordinate with the Ministry for Tourism and Civil Aviation, Tourism Division, Nepal Tourism Board and other concerned authorities,” Ghimire told The Kathmandu Post. “We are giving our more than 100 percent and hopefully the event will take place.”
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