Michael Clarke shares solemn tribute to late best mate Phil Hughes nine years after his tragic death: ‘Thinking of you always’

Michael Clarke has paid tribute to the late cricketer Phillip Hughes, nine years after his untimely death at age 26. 

The ex cricket captain shared a solemn post to Instagram on Monday, clearly still moved by his friend’s passing. 

‘408 Thinking of you always,’ Michael wrote, adding a blue love heart. 

Beloved Phil was remembered by the number ‘408’, which was his Test number. 

Michael shares memorial posts to celebrate Phil’s life every year, including rarely-seen photos of the two men together. 

‘I’m still wearing our [cap emoji] bro. Miss ya everyday,’ Michael shared back in 2020, underneath a photo of the pair. 

He also shared a series of posts on Instagram stories, including a touching cartoon drawing of the pair playing cricket together.

The image featured Michael wrapping an affectionate arm around Phil’s shoulders as he faded away while they stood together on a cricket field.

‘408 Thinking of you always,’ Michael wrote, adding a love heart. Beloved Phil was remembered by the number ‘408’, which was his Test number

Phil died on November 27, 2014, just three days shy of his 26th birthday, after being fatally struck in the neck by a ball during a cricket match.

Although he was wearing a helmet, the ball struck an unprotected area just below his ear, and he collapsed to the ground before receiving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

He was rushed to Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery before being placed into an induced coma, but he died two days later.

‘I’m still wearing our [cap emoji] bro. Miss ya everyday,’ Michael shared back in 2020, on the sixth anniversary of Phil’s death.

The former cricket captain marks the anniversary every year, sharing this in 2020

Michael kept a vigil at his friend’s hospital bed, before later giving an emotional eulogy at his funeral.

‘I don’t know about you, but I keep looking for him. I know it’s crazy, but I expect any minute to take a call from him or to see his face pop around the corner to call me into the next room for a story and a laugh,’ he said. 

In an interview with The Weekly Review in November 2017, Michael said he regretted not walking away from cricket sooner after Phil’s death, choosing to retire in 2015. 

Phil died on November 27, 2014, just three days shy of his 26th birthday, after being fatally struck in the neck by a ball during a cricket match. Pictured together at a cricket match in South Africa in March 2009

‘I shouldn’t have played another game. My career should have stopped then. It was too hard for me,’ he said, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.  

‘It took me a lot longer to grieve his loss than it should have, or that I would have liked.

‘I didn’t allow myself to grieve at the time because I had responsibility to his family, firstly, but then also as Australia’s cricket captain to my teammates and getting us back out onto the field.’

Michael kept a vigil at his friend’s hospital bed, before later giving an emotional eulogy at his funeral. Pictured reading a statement on behalf of Phil’s family in Sydney in November 2014