How can the death of a young man of 25 from a freak sporting accident effect so many people and have, what I expect, will be a lasting impression on the cricket-loving and in fact sport-loving public, not only in Australia, but also world-wide?

The simple answer is probably that, from the outside anyway, he was a really good young bloke who loved the game and played it to the very best of his ability and always had a smile on his face.

He never seemed to let adversity put him on the back-foot, despite being dropped several times from the national team, and many cricket-lovers, myself included, thought that he would eventually earn a permanent spot in the Australian team at the top of the batting order.

His unconventional, some would say at times rash stroke-play, never failed to thrill while he was at the crease and in fact being a Phillip Hughes fan was like being a fan of another country boy, the great Doug Walters, many years ago.

Many a time I had a sick feeling in my stomach as Dougie struggled against the swinging ball, but boy, when he was on-song, there was no one better to watch.

I still remember as a young man travelling to the Sydney Cricket Ground to watch Douggie bat, and the feeling of disappointment when he edged a ball from England’s Geoff Arnold to the keeper for just one. In the same series he belted a ton in the final session at Perth – that was Doug and that was Hughes.

Only time will tell how the Australian team handles this current Test series against India – I suppose it could go either way – but there is no doubt the memory of Phillip Hughes will never be far from anyone’s minds.

It’s also great to see that NSW allrounder Sean Abbott,  who bowled the ball that struck Hughes, has picked himself up and will play for the Blues against Queensland, also starting today.

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I’m sure no-one wants to be cast as a ‘hero’ for their actions following something like Phillip Hughes' death, but Australian captain Michael Clarke has left no doubt to his character and leadership in the way he has handled his mate’s death.

The way he's stood up and did the enormously difficult job of facing the media and speaking on behalf of the Hughes family was superb and showed the true character of Clarke, not only as a team leader, but as a man.

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The South Coast Rugby League is still in mourning following the tragic death of one of the competition’s most promising youngsters, 19-year-old Blaine Rozs, from Berry Magpies.

Rozs was killed at work early last week and the Berry community, and football club in particular, have rallied in their grief to support his family. 

The Magpies held a working-bee at Berry Showground on Sunday to make sure the ground and grandstand is in tip-top shape for Friday’s funeral, which will be held at 1pm.

Blaine’s mum, Michelle, has requested that people wear club shirts or something bright and football jumpers will most likely be the norm at the wake.