Australia bid an emotional farewell to cricketer Phillip Hughes at a funeral in his hometown on Wednesday with a live broadcast from coast to coast to allow a nation to join in the celebration and remembrance of the life of an athlete reduce its best.
Eight days after Hughes was hit by a ball to the back of the head and six after he died of catastrophic injuries resulting bizarre incident, his family, friends and a number of major cricketing met in Macksville High School.
The accolades since learned of a beloved son, brother, cousin and friend whose passion for cricket was matched only by his enthusiasm for the Angus cattle helped raise on the family farm.
A little boy in town with a prodigious talent for hitting a ball with a bat who headed up the coast to great city of Sydney as a teenager and ended up playing for his country 26 trials were also recalled.
Australia captain Michael Clarke broke down in tears for the second time in as many days as public paid tribute to his former teammate and friend, who would have been 26 on Sunday.
"The spirit of Phillip, which is now part of our game forever, will act as custodian of the sport we all love. We must listen to him," she said, struggling to contain his emotions.
"You have to appreciate it. We have to learn from it. We have to dig in and get through tea. And we have to play.
"So rest in peace my little brother. I'll see you in the middle."
About 1,000 mourners, mostly locals with a handful of luminaries including British Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, dabbed tears and sweat in the scorching heat of school hall with thousands more watching on screens in the sun outside.
Australian greats of the game, such as Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting were present, while Sir Richard Hadlee, Brian Lara and captain Virat Kohli India represented the wider world of cricket.
The service was broadcast live on network news international television and shown on giant screens in major cities in Australia, including the Sydney Cricket Ground, where Hughes suffered a fatal injury during a state party last Tuesday.
BAT TRIBUTES
Hughes was hitting a retreat next to Australia for the first match of the Test series against India - and rescheduled - when he suffered the injury that killed him.
The number 63, the races Hughes had accumulated when he was hit by the ball, has become inextricably linked to the tragedy, like 408, a reference to it becoming the 408th man to play Test cricket for Australia in 2009.
Above all, however, is the viral campaign for people to put cricket bats in outside homes tribute, workplaces and in the field of sports has become the most common manifestation of the outpouring of grief around the world.
This was reflected by the bat Hughes himself, rose against the casket during the service, which ended with "Do not Let the Sun Go Down on Me", a song by Elton John dedicated to Hughes when he played at a concert in Munich last week.
Clarke and fellow cricketers Aaron Finch and Tom Cooper joined father and brother Hughes among the pallbearers who delivered the coffin to the hearse, which then went in procession through the city.
