London:
Cricket fans around the world paid tribute to the deceased Australian batsman Phillip Hughes by pulling their cricket bats from their bags and placing them out.
The 25-year-old died on Thursday after succumbing to injuries he endured after being hit by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday.
The effect of Hughes’ death had on the international cricket community has been enormous as thousands of people took to Twitter to post their photos of their bats in tribute for the late batsman, a newspaper reported.
The phenomenon started on Thursday when Paul Taylor, from Sydney, tweeted a picture of a cricket bat and baggy blue cap leaning on the wall outside his house using the hashtag #putoutyourbats.
Taylor also posted the photo to the Facebook page of a radio station and the hashtag was almost immediately trending as people found an avenue to express their grief.
Former cricketers Adam Gilchrist and Dean Jones posted their own ‘#putyourbatsout’ tribute as well as Hughes’ South Australian team mate Kane Richardson.
Richardson tweeted that ‘#PutOutYourBat’ literally is Hughes’ bat. He added that he flogged it from the late batsman’s car and he didn’t care, also adding ‘#PH408 #bras’ to his tweet.
