Cricket: Hughes 'just so likeable': Mascarenhas

Dimitri Mascarenhas.
Dimitri Mascarenhas.
Otago coach Dimitri Mascarenhas has been left ''numb and sick'' by the death of Australian cricketer and former Hampshire team-mate Phillip Hughes.

Hughes died in hospital on Thursday after sustaining an injury when he was struck by a bouncer at the Sydney Cricket Ground during a Sheffield Shield game on Tuesday.

Mascarenhas was injured the year Hughes played a season at Hampshire.

However, he got to know the former Australian international and described him as ''a champion bloke''.

''The boys absolutely loved him and what he brought to us and the game,'' Mascarenhas said.

''It is just a devastating story and he will be sadly missed. He is going to be missed by a lot of people around the world. He was just one of those blokes that everybody loved. He was just so likeable.

''I feel a bit numb and sick. I just can't believe it. I just feel so sorry for his family and also for [the bowler] Sean Abbott.''

Inevitably, there has been talk about the safety of the game and whether bouncers should be outlawed.

Mascarenhas felt the bouncer had been part of the game ''forever'' and the terrible death of Hughes was just ''one of those freak accidents''.

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