Kim Hughes
Encyclopedia
Kimberley John Hughes (born 26 January 1954) is a former cricket
er who played for Western Australia
, Natal and Australia. He captained
Australia in 28 Tests
between 1979 and 1984 before captaining a "rebel" Australian team in a tour of South Africa, who at the time were subject to a sporting boycott.
A right-handed batsman, Hughes was seen to possess an orthodox but attractive batting style. Hughes was identified as a potential Test cricketer from an early age but his impetuous style of batting and personality clashes with influential team mates and opponents such as Dennis Lillee
and Rod Marsh
saw a later introduction to first-class
and Test cricket than anticipated. During the split between the establishment Australian Cricket Board and the breakaway World Series Cricket
, Hughes was the highest profile player to stay with the establishment.
Hughes' captaincy record with Australia was hindered by a succession of matches away from home (just seven of his 28 Tests while captain were played in Australia) and an inexperienced team rebuilding itself after the frequent absence and later retirement of several of senior players. Placed under extreme pressure by the media and former team mates during a series of losses to then dominant cricket team in the world, West Indies, Hughes made an emotional and tearful speech, resigning from the captaincy. He finished his career playing cricket in South Africa.
After his playing career Hughes for a time acted as the chairman of selectors
for the Western Australia and is an occasional commentator
for ABC Radio
's cricket coverage.
, the first child of father Stan, a school teacher and mother Ruth. The Hughes family lived in nearby Kudardup
, where Stan was in charge of the one-teacher school. Stan's profession would take the Hughes family across much of the south west of Western Australia including postings at Ballidu
, Pinjarra
and Geraldton
. The Hughes family settled in the Geraldton suburb of Wonthella
and Hughes attended the local Allendale Primary School, where his father was the headmaster.
In Geraldton, the young Hughes played a variety of sports, including hockey
, tennis
and especially Australian rules football
. His boyhood hero was Austin Robertson, Jr.
who played for Subiaco Football Club
, the club that Hughes' father had played for as a young man. His first organised cricket was as an 11 year old, filling in for the Bluff Point
Cricket Club under-16 side. He was selected for a Geraldton under-16 representative side aged 11, to compete in the junior "Country Week" tournament in the state capital of Perth
, where his team mates included Geoff Gallop
, later Premier of Western Australia
. He was selected in the Geraldton Country Week team again the following year. It was at this tournament that Hughes' performances playing against much older boys saw him come to the attention of cricket administrators.
After Hughes finished primary school, the family moved to Perth. Hughes attended City Beach High School and played cricket for the Floreat Park (now Floreat
) Under-16 side. In his final season at junior level, Hughes scored 555 runs at an average of 46 and took 28 wickets at an average
of 6 and was included in the Western Australia Colts squad. The next season, aged 15, Hughes made his first grade
debut for Subiaco-Floreat Cricket Club
, captained by former Test player Des Hoare
; Hughes made 36 runs. In January 1970, Hughes was selected to play for Western Australia in the national under-19 carnival. His captain, Ric Charlesworth, later described Hughes as "the most gifted junior cricketer I ever saw. No one else comes close." Later that season, Hughes made his first century
in first grade cricket against Midland-Guildford and finished the season topping the club batting averages.
After only nine first grade games, in 1970–71 Hughes was included in the Western Australian Sheffield Shield squad. Described at the time by Test wicket-keeper
Rod Marsh
as "a technically perfect batsman", the Perth press speculated he might even make his first-class cricket
debut later that season. Instead, Hughes suffered from the "second-year blues
" and struggled for runs, averaging only 23 for the season. He was unable to break out of the slump the next two seasons, finding himself out of the state squad. In this time he managed to retain selection in the state colts team; in one match against the Victorian
colts scoring a dashing 97, before being caught on the boundary
attempting to make his century from a six. It would be four years after his maiden first grade century that Hughes would make his second, against North Perth.
In 1973–74, Hughes was called up to the Western Australian squad. He acted as twelfth man in three successive matches but was unable to break into the playing XI due to the strong Western Australian batting line-up. Impatient to play at first-class level, Hughes left for Adelaide mid-season to try his luck at gaining selection for South Australia
, whose batting was not as strong. He played for East Torrens Cricket Club and awaited an invitation to play for South Australia; he was not even invited to train with the state squad. His South Australian experiment unsuccessful, Hughes—disappointed and homesick—returned to Western Australia.
Hughes was captain
-coach of North Perth Cricket Club for the 1975–76 season. In November 1975, Hughes finally broke into the Western Australian team, making his first-class debut against New South Wales
at the WACA Ground
. In an innings described by New South Wales bowler Dave Hourn as the "best and most dynamic innings" he had seen in first-class cricket, Hughes continually stepped down the pitch to hit the bowling, even to the pace bowling of Len Pascoe
. He was dismissed for 119, ending a partnership
of 205 runs with Rob Langer
. He was the fifth Western Australian batsman to make a century
on first-class debut for the state. Later that season, Hughes scored a second century, against Clive Lloyd
's touring West Indians
. In his first season for Western Australia, Hughes made 494 runs at an average of 32.93.
In the winter of 1976, Hughes played as a professional for Watsonians Cricket Club, a team based around former students of George Watson's College
in Edinburgh
. Hughes would later call this period "possibly the best six months of my life."
. The Australian
reported that "[r]arely has a batsman of his limited experience been seen in a more majestic performance". A few weeks later, Hughes was called up as twelfth man for Australia in the New Year's Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
(MCG). Substituting on the field for Ian Davis
, he injured his shoulder attempting to catch Imran Khan
. Missing the rest of the Pakistan matches, Hughes was included in the Australian team to tour New Zealand. Hughes, again suffering from homesickness, did not play in either of the two Tests.
Four weeks after marrying his girlfriend, Hughes left for England as a member of the 1977 Australian team
. The tour was an unhappy one for the Australian team, losing the series three Tests to nil to England and the embryonic World Series Cricket
concept caused rifts between the team members. Hughes did not play much cricket early in the tour; Wisden Cricketers' Almanack saying that he was "kept in such idleness that [he] might have claimed restraint of trade
." He was selected to make his Test debut in the fifth Test, after the series had already been decided. Hughes, bitter about his treatment by the tour selectors, was unhappy. Hughes told a reporter congratulating him about his upcoming Test debut "Those pricks, now they have made me part of their failure". In an uncharacteristic performance, Hughes faced thirty four deliveries before he made his first run. It was the only run he made that innings, before he was dismissed by Mike Hendrick
. Hughes' teammate Geoff Dymock
later said, "They threw [Hughes] to the wolves."
's rebel group and those, like Hughes, who had remained with the establishment Australian Cricket Board (ACB). Hughes' boyhood idol, Austin Robertson Jr, acted as Packer's agent, signing players to the new cricket venture, eventually signing 13 of the 17 players who toured England; Hughes was a notable omission. Robertson claims that he did not approach Hughes about a WSC contract; Hughes claims that he was approached but indicated his unwillingness. In September 1977, Hughes made clear his attachment to traditional cricket in a statement.
The first season of the divide saw the ACB bring the 41-year-old Bob Simpson
out of retirement to captain the Australians against the touring Indians. Hughes fell one run short of a century against the tourists for Western Australia but missed out on selection for the first Test at the Gabba in Brisbane, instead named as twelfth man. Hughes was chosen for the second Test at the WACA Ground
in Perth, where he made 28 in the first innings and a duck in the second. He was omitted for the third Test in Melbourne but returned for the fourth Test in Sydney. At the Sydney Cricket Ground
, Hughes made 17 and 19, with Bishan Bedi
dismissing him on both occasions. Again, Hughes was left out of the Australian team; at this stage he had not played two Test matches consecutively.
Hughes travelled to the Caribbean as a member of the Australian cricket team to play the West Indies in 1978. During the first match on tour against the Leeward Islands
at Basseterre
, Saint Kitts
, Hughes suffered from appendicitis
and had his appendix removed. The wound became infected and Hughes had to beg team management to be allowed to remain on the tour. Despite his later recovery, he did not play any of the Tests; his personality and attitude to the game did not meet with the approval of the captain, Simpson. A reporter wrote at the time, "Kim Hughes is the most frustrated, disillusioned young man in the West Indies today and with good reason. [...] Never, at any stage, has Simpson considered Hughes a Test prospect."
Mike Brearley
led his English team to Australia in 1978–79 on the back of his victory over the Greg Chappell-led Australians in 1977. With Simpson standing down from international cricket, Graham Yallop
was the new Australian captain, leading an inexperienced Australian team, with only Gary Cosier
having played over 10 Tests before the series began; Hughes had only played two Tests. The Australians were no match for the experienced England team, losing the series and the Ashes
five Tests to one. Playing in all six Tests, Hughes scored 345 runs at an average of 28.75; only Yallop scored more runs in what was a poor batting performance by Australia. Hughes' only century came in the first Test at Brisbane. Having been bowled out for 116, in their first innings, Australia had lost three wickets for only 49 runs (49/3) in the second innings when Hughes joined Yallop at the crease. Yallop and Hughes scored 170 runs in partnership before Yallop was dismissed for 102. Hughes continued on and was the last Australian wicket to fall, top-scoring with 129; his maiden Test century. While England won the match by seven wickets, Hughes and Yallop at least made the Australian effort look respectable.
took an incredible seven wickets for only one run in the Australian second innings. Before the second Test, Yallop tore his calf muscle playing for Richmond
—his club side—and had to withdraw from the Australian team. Hughes, playing only his eleventh Test, was named as Australian captain; the first Western Australian to lead the national team.
Hughes took to the leadership role with enthusiasm, boasting of a "new era". Bowling in the nets before the start of the third day's play, Hughes rolled his ankle and was not able to take his place in the field. While he sat in the dressing room, the Australian team, desperate to end the Pakistan tenth-wicket partnership "Mankaded" (run out the batsman at the non-striker's end before bowling the ball) Sikander Bakht
. During Australia's second innings, Andrew Hilditch
picked up the ball after a return from a fieldsman and, in an attempt to be helpful, handed it to Sarfraz. Sarfraz appeal
ed for a handling the ball
dismissal, and Hildtich was given out by umpire Tony Crafter
. While within the laws of the game
, both dismissals were generally seen as unsportsmanlike. Hughes said of his own team's actions, "It was just part of cricket" while condemning the actions of Sarfraz: "It just wasn't cricket". In the end, Australia won the second Test and tied the series one Test apiece. Hughes had started his Australian captaincy with a win.
His success in his one Test in charge saw Hughes appointed as captain of the Australian team for the 1979 Cricket World Cup
to be held in England. The Australian team was not expected to do well and lived up to those low expectations by not making the semi-finals. A Test series in India was next for Hughes and his team. In a rain-affected series, Australia was unable to win a match, losing two and drawing another four. However, Wisden had praise for Hughes, remarking that there "was a marked development in Hughes's technique of playing spin bowling" and that "the heavy burden of captaincy had no adverse effect on his batting". His best performance was in the first Test at Chennai
(then called Madras), where he scored exactly 100 runs in the first innings, batting in a responsible fashion. Over the series, Hughes topped the aggregate and the averages for Australia, scoring 594 runs at an average of 59.40.
In 1979, World Series Cricket and the Australian Cricket Board agreed to the reunification of the Australian team. Hughes—along with the other establishment players—now had to compete with the returning WSC players, not only for spots in the Australian team, but also for spots in their respective state teams as well. Many experts in the press did not include Hughes in a full-strength Australian squad and former Australian captain and Packer player, Ian Chappell
agreed saying, "Frankly, I can't even see a spot in the [Australian] squad for Hughes" Ultimately Hughes was included in the Australian squad, but was now vice-captain, with Greg Chappell
—the captain before the split—restored to this position.
England and the West Indies both toured Australia in 1979–80. Hughes started the summer well, making 139 not out
in the first Test against a West Indian line-up including bowlers such as Andy Roberts, Michael Holding
and Joel Garner
. He hit 18 boundaries
that innings, 10 of them from the hook shot. The next Test, against England in Perth, Hughes was out one run short of his century, attempting to hit Derek Underwood
out of the ground. A short tour to play Pakistan followed in February 1980, where Hughes made 182 runs in the three-Test series, averaging 36.40.
The Centenary Test at Lord's Cricket Ground
in 1980 was a triumph for Hughes. Much of the first three days' play was lost due to bad weather but in that time Hughes played what Wisden would describe as "two innings of the highest quality." Hughes scored a century in the first innings, 117 runs including 14 fours and 3 sixes. His second innings only totalled 84 runs before he was dismissed by Ian Botham
. It was this innings, however, that was seen as his most brilliant of the match. His 84 runs included 11 fours and 2 sixes, one of which struck the top deck of the pavilion; Hughes having stepped down the pitch to hit Chris Old
back over his head. Former England captain Gubby Allen
could not recall a more remarkable straight hit. Cricket writer RS Whitington had to cast his mind back more than 40 years to describe Hughes' batting as "the nearest approach to Stan McCabe
in full flurry". The Test was drawn and Hughes was given the Man of the Match
award, having batted on each of the five days of the match. His performance in the Centenary Test saw him named as one of the 1981 Wisden Cricketers of the Year
. This Test saw Hughes become the only cricketer to hit a six on all five days of a Test match.
Hughes struggled against New Zealand
in 1980–81, making only 102 runs at an average of 27.25 in three Tests. Rumours about Hughes' selection prospects again began to circulate. While Hughes was batting in the tradional Australia Day Test in Adelaide, this time against India, later that summer, his nemesis Ian Chappell opined on the airwaves that "Hughes really does need to build up a big score here. People are starting to talk about him being dropped." In seeming response to this criticism, Hughes scored a double-century; 213 runs including 21 boundaries. A "magnificent innings" Wisden declared, adding that Hughes' batting "touched the heights" and that "[w]ith brilliant footwork, he scored freely off the spinners." Hughes dedicated his innings to his newborn twin sons, Sean and Simon.
In 1981, Australia was scheduled to tour England to play for the Ashes
. Before the squad was selected, Greg Chappell announced that he would not be leading the Australian team, citing business and family reasons. In his absence, the Australian Cricket Board turned to Hughes as captain. The Australian team arrived in England in May and was greeted by rain, leaving them short of needed match practice. Nevertheless, Hughes and his team unexpectedly won the preliminary One Day International series. The first Test was played at Trent Bridge
in Nottingham
. Australia won the low scoring and rain affected match by six wickets, after Hughes had taken the opportunity to put England into bat after winning the toss. Australia then had the best of a drawn match in the second Test at Lord's. After making a pair in this match, Ian Botham resigned his position as captain of England.
The third Test of the series was played at Headingley in Leeds. Hughes' Australians had the better of the early part of the match. Batting first, Australia made 401 runs; with Hughes contributing 89 of them. In response England only scored 179 runs and Hughes enforced the follow-on
(forced to take its second batting innings immediately after its first). England were reduced to 135/7 in their second innings and the on-ground bookmaker
s decided to offer odds
of 500–1 on an England victory. Ian Botham and Bob Willis
turned the match on its head. In an extraordinary innings Botham made 149 runs, allowing England to set a target of 130 runs for Australia to win. Willis then took eight wickets for only 43 runs as Australia were all out for 111. Hughes and his Australian team had lost the match from what should have been an unbeatable position. Later, explaining what had happened, Hughes said "Botham rode his luck and we couldn't get him out. [...] In the first innings they missed catches—even Botham and [David] Gower missed them—but in the second they held everything. I'd seen Bob Willis bowl just as well at other times and not take nearly as many wickets." Australia lost the fourth Test at Edgbaston
in Birmingham
. This time, requiring only 151 runs to win the match, Australia reached 105/4 and seemed certain to win the match. Again, it was Botham who turned the match around, capturing 5 wickets in the space of 28 deliveries while only conceding one run. In the final Test of the series, Hughes chose to shepherd the strike to protect his partner Yallop, who was a specialist batsman. This action, something normally only done for poor, tail-end batsmen, humiliated Yallop. England won the series three Tests to one and retained the Ashes. The series was later known as "Botham's summer."
With Chappell again available, Hughes returned to the vice-captaincy for the 1981–82 Tests. Australia played Pakistan first in an ill-tempered three Test series; won by the Australians two Tests to one. Hughes started the series with a century (106) in the first Test in Perth and finished the series having scored 193 runs overall. The other touring side that summer were the West Indies, widely considered the best team in the world at that time and supported by a potent fast bowling attack. The first Test in the series was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Both teams were critical of the pitch
prepared at the MCG for the Test. Australia were quickly reduced to 26/4 before Hughes started his effort to recover the Australian innings. Hughes decided to attack the West Indian bowling. In an interview later he said "that to hang around and defend was going to be a waste of time ... So I thought what I could do was try to play as many shots as possible." When the ninth wicket fell, Hughes had made 71 and it appeared a century was out of reach. Hughes' remaining batting partner, Alderman, was a poor batsman; it had taken him nine matches to make his first first-class run. Alderman, despite telling Hughes that he didn't give himself much chance, managed to stay with Hughes long enough for Hughes to reach 100 runs. Hughes' innings was widely praised. West Indian Andy Roberts said "He took up the challenge and it paid off for him. It was a great innings. You don't find one batsman playing that sort of innings on more than one occasion. That was just his day." The Wisden 100
, a ranking of the Top 100 Test Innings of all time, ranked that innings as number nine.
and Len Pascoe
. The fourteen Australian Cricket Board delegates met in March to decide on an interim captain for the tour, with the two candidates Hughes and Rod Marsh. Hughes narrowly won the vote, 8 votes to 6. Marsh was offered the vice-captaincy, which he declined. Marsh later withdrew from the tour as a result of his son's illness. It was a difficult tour for Hughes' Australians. All members of the touring squad suffered from illness at one stage and at one stage Hughes threatened to take his team back to Australia after several Australian fielders were hit by projectiles thrown from the stands. Intelligent bowling by Pakistan's Abdul Qadir
combined with poor fielding and lack of depth in Australia's batting saw Pakistan defeat Australia three Tests to nil.
Hughes had hoped to retain the captaincy for the Ashes series in 1982–83, but the ACB chose to restore Chappell to his former position. Hughes' demotion did not affect his batting, however. He scored 469 runs against the English at an average of 67.00. His consistent run scoring saw Bill O'Reilly
call Hughes "Mr. Reliable" and even Ian Chappell remarked that "After this series, not only should Hughes' conscience be clear but his slate clean in regard to the 1981 [Ashes] disaster." The highlight of the summer for Hughes was the final Test in Sydney where he batted for over 6 hours to score 137 runs. Australia retrieved the Ashes, winning the series two Tests to one. Not long after the match, Chappell relinquished his position as Australian captain; Hughes was now captain of a full-strength Australian team for the first time.
Australia did not make it out of the group stage in the 1983 Cricket World Cup
, winning only two of their six matches played. Hughes' team was embarrassed by a loss in their first match against Zimbabwe, at the time a mainly amateur side. There was a chance that Australia could still make the semi-finals with a win against India. Hughes chose to sit out the match, to give a minor injury time to heal. In his absence the Australian team was dismissed for 129 and bundled out of the tournament. Hughes decision to pull out of the match drew some criticism from the Australian press: "Hughes decision not to play was lamentable [...] this Australian team does not have a capable leader." On his return to Australia, David Hookes
publicly advocated for Rod Marsh to be appointed Australian captain in Hughes' place, saying on Adelaide radio, "Maybe Kim has got to be an apprentice to someone everyone respects." Hughes replied 'It's nice to know the Australian captain has got the support of his vice-captain." Under some pressure from cricket officials, Hughes was persuaded that he should stand down from the captaincy and a letter was drafted to this effect; he changed his mind the following morning.
Once again, the Australian Cricket Board voted 8–6 to appoint Hughes as captain for the 1983–84 series against Pakistan
. This time Hughes led a full strength Australian team, including former captain Greg Chappell and his fellow Western Australians, Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh. Hughes' Australians defeated Pakistan comfortably, two Tests to nil. Hughes himself scored 375 runs in the series, including one century at Adelaide where he "confounded the cunning Qadir
". At the end the season, Chappell, Lillee and Marsh—the Australian team's most experienced players—retired from international cricket.
, Graeme Wood
, Steve Smith, Rodney Hogg
and Carl Rackemann
all were unfit to play at times during the tour.
Australia lost the series three Tests to nil. After managing to draw the first two Tests, they lost the next three; the West Indies did not lose a second innings wicket all tour. Hughes did not have a successful tour with the bat, scoring 215 runs at an average of 21.50. The pressure of the tour told on Hughes. In a match against Trinidad and Tobago, Hughes protested against what he saw as unreasonableness by the opposition by treating the remainder of the match with contempt; not attempting to win. Afterwards Hughes said he could not care less about the welfare of cricket in Trinidad and Tobago
; management fined him for this comment. In the second Test, Rodney Hogg threw a punch at Hughes, frustrated that he was not given the field he wanted by his captain.
There was no respite for the Australians; the West Indies returned to Australia for the 1984–85 season. The Australian team remained positive; Allan Border said, "We are thinking of beating them, Laugh all you want." Despite this attitude, the Australians lost the first Test by an innings and 112 runs. Hughes made only four runs in the first innings, out
playing the hook shot despite a pre-series pledge not to play the stroke. Again, the pressure from the media came; Ian Chappell used his newspaper column to heavily criticise Hughes. Chappell continued his criticism of Hughes during the standard pre-match interview before the broadcast of the second Test in Brisbane. The Test was another struggle for the Australians. Australia was bowled out for 175 and then Hughes then dropped two catches in the West Indian innings. In the Australian second innings, Hughes made only four. The next morning, before play, Hughes rang the Australia team manager and said "I want to quit as Australian captain."
, his vice-captain, advised him to reconsider; Hughes refused. At the press conference at the end of the day's play, Hughes announced, "I have something to read." Hughes was visibly emotional while reading his letter and broke down in tears halfway through, leaving the rest for team manager Bob Merriman to read on his behalf as he quickly left the press conference. Australia went on to lose the match by eight wickets, with Hughes scoring 34 and 4.
Press reaction to Hughes' resignation and his emotional state was mixed. Former Australian captain and television broadcaster Bill Lawry
said "The demise of Kim Hughes in Brisbane in a manner equal to be being dragged down like a dingo in the pack and devoured by your own, within and without, was a disgrace." The respected ABC radio broadcaster Alan McGilvray
on the other hand was more blunt: "[Hughes] is a little boy who has not yet grown up." Hughes was widely mocked for his tears, which were seen as unmanly and un-Australian. Barry Humphries
—the satirist behind Dame Edna Everage
and Sir Les Patterson
—wondered if "Kim's cricket box was on too tight" and claimed that a real Australian in that situation "would simply chunder
". In 2002, a British journalist remarked of Hughes' tears as "one inadequate captain getting life so out of proportion as to make a complete clown of himself." It is claimed in the press from time to time that Hughes is now as much remembered for his tears as for his achievements in cricket.
Hughes retained his place in the Australian team for the third Test in Adelaide under new captain, Allan Border. Hughes failed in both innings, scoring a duck
in the first innings and only two runs in the second. Hughes joined the Australian team in Melbourne for the fourth Test. Despite warm support from the MCG crowd, Hughes made a humiliating pair; in his last innings he was out from the first ball he faced—a golden duck
. He never played in a Test match again. He played in some of the remaining One Day Internationals but without success. When the Australian team was chosen for the tour of England in 1985
, Hughes was not included.
and subjected to a boycott. With his old adversaries Greg Chappell as a national selector and Rod Marsh playing an analogous role for the Western Australian team, Hughes felt that his options in Australian cricket were limited and he chose to join the rebel team as the captain. Hughes was one of the last players to join the rebel team; indeed he found out that many of the rebel squad had signed up with the South Africans during the 1983 World Cup, when he was confirmed as captain. At a press conference after the announcement of the team, Hughes announced: Hughes was heavily criticised for his decision. Desmond Tutu
called him a hypocrite and Prime Minister
Bob Hawke
called him a comforter of racists. The criticism was hurtful to Hughes who, seemingly puzzled, remarked to friends "People think I'm a racist." In South Africa, even before his team arrived Hughes was "a hero, larger than a Reagan ... [Australia's] most exotic export since Breaker Morant
."
The rebel team played two series against the South African team—in 1985–86 and 1986–87—and lost them both 1 "Test" to nil. In the first series, Hughes left himself stranded on 97 when the second "Test" at Newlands
in Capetown ended in a draw. In the following match at Wanderers
in Johannesburg, Hughes was dismissed for a golden pair; dismissed by first ball he faced in both innings. Hughes scored 585 runs at an average of 45.00 in the 1985–86 South African season and followed that with 596 runs at an average of 42.57 in 1986–87. In 2007, Hughes reflected on his participation in the rebel tours: "Cricket was at the forefront of trying to break down barriers and when you look how cricket has developed in South Africa I was very pleased to be involved."
Following the rebel tours, Hughes returned to Western Australia. The Western Australian Cricket Association attempted to ban him from club cricket in Western Australia. In response Hughes took action against the WACA for restraint of trade
; he won the case in the Federal Court of Australia
—the WACA lost several hundred thousand dollars in court costs. Before the start of the 1987–88 season, Marsh resigned his position as a Western Australian selector; by December Hughes had made his way back into the Western Australian team as an opener, where he scored 76 runs against New South Wales. He played six matches for Western Australia that year scoring 223 runs at an average of 22.30. The following season Hughes played only two games for Western Australia, with the state side finding little room for a man now aged 34.
In September 1989, Hughes signed on as captain of Natal in the South African Currie Cup
competition. His two seasons with Natal were disappointing for the team and himself; Natal struggled on the field and there was disharmony amongst the squad. With the bat he scored 176 runs at an average of 13.53 in 1989–90 and 266 at 24.16 in 1990–91. He did, however, have a positive influence on two cricketers who later represented South Africa. Andrew Hudson
claimed that "Kim installed a positiveness and a self-belief" in him and Jonty Rhodes
—who stayed in Hughes' home during Natal home matches—wanted to play with the same passion as Hughes: "There are too many robots ... Kim was emotional because he cared. I wanted to be the same." During his second season at Natal, Hughes was dropped from the Natal side and later was dropped from the Natal "B" side. He retired from all first-class cricket in February 1991.
to train as a primary school teacher. Graylands was established as a stop-gap measure but by the time Hughes arrived it had been operating for two decades and the facilities were run down and almost derelict. In 1974, his final year at Graylands, Hughes was elected President of the student council and in this role he led a campaign to improve the facilities for the faculty and students. The campaign, which included an appearance by Hughes on the ABC television current affairs program This Day Tonight
, met with some measure of success.
His first job as a teacher was at Linden Park Primary School in Linden Park
during his attempt to make the South Australian team in 1974. After teaching, he found employment in the finance industry, working first for City Building Society as a promotions manager and later for Town & Country Building Society in a marketing role. Town & Country used Hughes to promote their business both in advertising and in through direct contact with investors. In return, Hughes was afforded time away from work to pursue cricket. The General Manager of Town & Country described the relationship: "[Hughes] was a great player, well presented, good looking. He was a family man. He fitted the Town & Country mould admirably."
Hughes was a skilled Australian rules footballer as a junior and was invited to play with Claremont Football Club
in the West Australian National Football League
. He played two seasons at Claremont—1973 and 1974—alternating between the under-21 and the reserve teams, but did not manage to make the senior team. The Claremont coach, Verdun Howell
, described Hughes as having "Great ball skills, brilliant hand-eye coordination and a very, very reliable kick [...] And he showed courage. He went full throttle at the ball and didn't look for a second option." Howell told Hughes one evening at practice, "I believe you could go as far as you want in football." Hughes played at full forward for the under-21 team and mainly in the centre in the reserves. His brief football career was interrupted by injury—he broke his neck falling off a desk at teachers college—and eventually he advised Howell that he was "very much looking towards cricket" in future.
Hughes was aged 14 when he met Jenny Davidson, a fellow student at City Beach High School. The pair married in March 1977 and within four weeks Hughes left for a four month tour of England. In January 1981, Jenny gave birth to two twins, Sean and Simon. Another son, Bradley, followed four years later and a baby girl Claire in 1988. Kim's brother Glenn played first-class cricket
for Orange Free State
and Tasmania
.
Since retirement Hughes has been chairman of selectors for the Western Australian Cricket Association
from 1999 to 2000 and more recently an occasional cricket commentator on ABC
radio. A dining room at the WACA Ground is named the Kim Hughes Room.
dismissal.
Hughes was widely considered by those who knew him as a likeable and friendly person; a person who wanted to be liked. He said of himself when appointed captain of Australia, "The one thing in my favour is that I will never change. I hope I will always be a likeable enough, easy-to-get-along-with type of person." His biographer noted, "[F]riends, team-mates, coaches, teachers, officials, close observers. Almost all mentioned Kim's niceness. He addresses people by their first name. He loves being around and encouraging children. He likes being people's best friend." As captain Hughes was popular and obliging with the press and the public. English journalist Frank Keating said "Pulled this way and that by photographers, fringers, high commissioners, low commisioners, book commissioners, and hall-porter commissioners, [Hughes] never stopped being softly obliging." The journalist Adrian McGregor said of Hughes, "He was almost too amenable, too nice a guy. He was great with the media, would answer all sorts of questions, never told people to piss off. [...] It was almost like he didn't have the appropriate personality [to be captain]."
Hughes projected a confident image on the field. "A pretty cocky little fella" was how one early opponent in club cricket described Hughes. This cockiness pleased some but others like Bruce Duperouzel
, Hughes's captain in a Western Australian colts team, thought that Hughes had "an extravagance that pushed the bounds of acceptability."
Fond of noting that he was born on Australia Day
, Hughes was proudly Australian and keen to demonstrate this publicly. On his first tour to England, Hughes was often the only team member wearing the Australian team blazer
. Hughes claimed that "the greatest day of [his] life" was Australia II
s victory over the New York Yacht Club
's entry in the 1983 America's Cup
yacht race; Hughes sat down with his twin sons, waved mini-Australian flags purchased especially for the event and watched a replay of the race twice more that day.
Hughes's nickname was "Claggy", a reference to the ubiquitous Clag
glue found in classrooms across Australia.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played for Western Australia
Western Warriors
The Western Australia cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team representing the state of Western Australia...
, Natal and Australia. He captained
Captain (cricket)
The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player...
Australia in 28 Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
between 1979 and 1984 before captaining a "rebel" Australian team in a tour of South Africa, who at the time were subject to a sporting boycott.
A right-handed batsman, Hughes was seen to possess an orthodox but attractive batting style. Hughes was identified as a potential Test cricketer from an early age but his impetuous style of batting and personality clashes with influential team mates and opponents such as Dennis Lillee
Dennis Lillee
Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...
and Rod Marsh
Rod Marsh
Rodney William Marsh MBE is a former Australian wicketkeeper.A colourful character, Marsh had a Test career spanning from the 1970–71 to the 1983–84 Australian season. In 96 Tests, he set a world record of 355 wicketkeeping dismissals, the same number his pace bowling Western...
saw a later introduction to first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
and Test cricket than anticipated. During the split between the establishment Australian Cricket Board and the breakaway World Series Cricket
World Series Cricket
World Series Cricket was a break away professional cricket competition staged between 1977 and 1979 and organised by Kerry Packer for his Australian television network, Nine Network. The matches ran in opposition to established international cricket...
, Hughes was the highest profile player to stay with the establishment.
Hughes' captaincy record with Australia was hindered by a succession of matches away from home (just seven of his 28 Tests while captain were played in Australia) and an inexperienced team rebuilding itself after the frequent absence and later retirement of several of senior players. Placed under extreme pressure by the media and former team mates during a series of losses to then dominant cricket team in the world, West Indies, Hughes made an emotional and tearful speech, resigning from the captaincy. He finished his career playing cricket in South Africa.
After his playing career Hughes for a time acted as the chairman of selectors
Selector (sport)
In many team sports, a selection panel consist of selectors who choose teams or individuals to represent a country or club in sporting competitions.Selectors tend to be past players....
for the Western Australia and is an occasional commentator
Color commentator
A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...
for ABC Radio
ABC Radio Grandstand
ABC Radio Grandstand is a live radio sports focused commentary and talk-back program which runs on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation local radio network across Australia. The program runs on Saturdays and Sundays, typically from noon or an hour before, until 6 pm...
's cricket coverage.
Early life
Hughes was born on 26 January 1954, at Margaret River, Western AustraliaMargaret River, Western Australia
Margaret River is a town in the South West of Western Australia, located in the valley of the eponymous Margaret River, south of Perth, the state capital. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River....
, the first child of father Stan, a school teacher and mother Ruth. The Hughes family lived in nearby Kudardup
Kudardup, Western Australia
Kudardup is a locality in the South West region of Western Australia. The locality is in the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River and on the Bussell Highway, south of the state capital, Perth. In March 1961 Kudardup was devastated by bush fires...
, where Stan was in charge of the one-teacher school. Stan's profession would take the Hughes family across much of the south west of Western Australia including postings at Ballidu
Ballidu, Western Australia
Ballidu is a town located in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, about north of Perth. Ballidu is also north of the town of Wongan Hills which, along with a few other small towns such as Cadoux and Bindi Bindi make up the Shire of Wongan-Ballidu....
, Pinjarra
Pinjarra, Western Australia
Pinjarra is a town in the Peel region of Western Australia along the South Western Highway, from the state capital, Perth and south-east of the coastal city of Mandurah. Its local government area is the Shire of Murray. At the 2006 census, Pinjarra had a population of 3,279.Pinjarra is an area...
and Geraldton
Geraldton, Western Australia
Geraldton is a city and port in Western Australia located north of Perth in the Mid West region. Geraldton has an estimated population at June 2010 of 36,958...
. The Hughes family settled in the Geraldton suburb of Wonthella
Wonthella, Western Australia
Wonthella is an inner northern suburb of Geraldton, Western Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Greater Geraldton.The suburb was gazetted in 1972.At the 2006 census, Wonthella had a population of 1,497....
and Hughes attended the local Allendale Primary School, where his father was the headmaster.
In Geraldton, the young Hughes played a variety of sports, including hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
and especially Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
. His boyhood hero was Austin Robertson, Jr.
Austin Robertson, Jr.
Austin Christian Robertson was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in the VFL and Subiaco in the WANFL...
who played for Subiaco Football Club
Subiaco Football Club
The Subiaco Football Club, nicknamed the Lions, is an Australian rules football club in the West Australian Football League . It was founded in 1896, and admitted to the WAFL in 1901, along with North Fremantle...
, the club that Hughes' father had played for as a young man. His first organised cricket was as an 11 year old, filling in for the Bluff Point
Bluff Point, Western Australia
Bluff Point is a northern coastal suburb of Geraldton, Western Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Greater Geraldton.The suburb was gazetted in 1972.-Geography:...
Cricket Club under-16 side. He was selected for a Geraldton under-16 representative side aged 11, to compete in the junior "Country Week" tournament in the state capital of Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, where his team mates included Geoff Gallop
Geoff Gallop
Geoffrey Ian Gallop, AC is an Australian academic and former politician. He was the Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006. He currently resides in Sydney.-Early life and education:...
, later Premier of Western Australia
Premier of Western Australia
The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
. He was selected in the Geraldton Country Week team again the following year. It was at this tournament that Hughes' performances playing against much older boys saw him come to the attention of cricket administrators.
After Hughes finished primary school, the family moved to Perth. Hughes attended City Beach High School and played cricket for the Floreat Park (now Floreat
Floreat, Western Australia
Floreat is a residential suburb located west-northwest from the central business district of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It is bordered on three sides by Underwood Avenue, Selby Street, and Cromarty Road; the western border adjoins or runs through Bold Park. It is located in the Town...
) Under-16 side. In his final season at junior level, Hughes scored 555 runs at an average of 46 and took 28 wickets at an average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of 6 and was included in the Western Australia Colts squad. The next season, aged 15, Hughes made his first grade
Western Australian Grade Cricket
Grade Cricket in Western Australia refers to the semi-professional cricket league played at a level below the first-class Western Warriors and colts teams. The competition is administered by the Western Australian Cricket Association...
debut for Subiaco-Floreat Cricket Club
Subiaco-Floreat Cricket Club
Subiaco-Floreat Cricket Club is one of the sixteen cricket clubs playing in the Western Australian Grade Cricket A-Grade competition. It was founded in 1977 as a result of the amalgamation of Subiaco Cricket Club and Floreat Park Cricket Club....
, captained by former Test player Des Hoare
Des Hoare
Desmond Edward Hoare is a former Australian cricketer who played in one Test in 1961. He also played Australian rules football for East Fremantle in the West Australian National Football League ....
; Hughes made 36 runs. In January 1970, Hughes was selected to play for Western Australia in the national under-19 carnival. His captain, Ric Charlesworth, later described Hughes as "the most gifted junior cricketer I ever saw. No one else comes close." Later that season, Hughes made his first century
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
in first grade cricket against Midland-Guildford and finished the season topping the club batting averages.
Club cricket and first-class debut
Wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...
Rod Marsh
Rod Marsh
Rodney William Marsh MBE is a former Australian wicketkeeper.A colourful character, Marsh had a Test career spanning from the 1970–71 to the 1983–84 Australian season. In 96 Tests, he set a world record of 355 wicketkeeping dismissals, the same number his pace bowling Western...
as "a technically perfect batsman", the Perth press speculated he might even make his first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut later that season. Instead, Hughes suffered from the "second-year blues
Sophomore slump
A sophomore slump or sophomore jinx refers to an instance in which a second, or sophomore, effort fails to live up to the standards of the first effort...
" and struggled for runs, averaging only 23 for the season. He was unable to break out of the slump the next two seasons, finding himself out of the state squad. In this time he managed to retain selection in the state colts team; in one match against the Victorian
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
colts scoring a dashing 97, before being caught on the boundary
Boundary (cricket)
Boundary has two distinct meanings in the sport of cricket:# the edge or boundary of the playing field, and# a manner of scoring runs.-Edge of the field:...
attempting to make his century from a six. It would be four years after his maiden first grade century that Hughes would make his second, against North Perth.
In 1973–74, Hughes was called up to the Western Australian squad. He acted as twelfth man in three successive matches but was unable to break into the playing XI due to the strong Western Australian batting line-up. Impatient to play at first-class level, Hughes left for Adelaide mid-season to try his luck at gaining selection for South Australia
Southern Redbacks
The South Australia cricket team, nicknamed the Southern Redbacks and known as the West End Redbacks due to their sponsorship agreement with local brewers West End, are an Australian first class cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia, and represent the state of South Australia...
, whose batting was not as strong. He played for East Torrens Cricket Club and awaited an invitation to play for South Australia; he was not even invited to train with the state squad. His South Australian experiment unsuccessful, Hughes—disappointed and homesick—returned to Western Australia.
Hughes was captain
Captain (cricket)
The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player...
-coach of North Perth Cricket Club for the 1975–76 season. In November 1975, Hughes finally broke into the Western Australian team, making his first-class debut against New South Wales
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
at the WACA Ground
WACA Ground
The WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association....
. In an innings described by New South Wales bowler Dave Hourn as the "best and most dynamic innings" he had seen in first-class cricket, Hughes continually stepped down the pitch to hit the bowling, even to the pace bowling of Len Pascoe
Len Pascoe
Leonard Stephen Pascoe is a former Australian Test and ODI cricketer. He attended Punchbowl Boys' High School in New South Wales....
. He was dismissed for 119, ending a partnership
Partnership (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in partnership, although only one is on strike at any time. The partnership between two batsmen will come to an end when one of them is dismissed or retires, or the innings comes to a close In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in...
of 205 runs with Rob Langer
Rob Langer
Robert Samuel Langer is a former cricketer who played for Western Australia in the 1970s and 1980s. He was a left-handed middle order batsman and occasional right-arm medium pace bowler. Langer's first-class career extended from 1973–1974 until 1981–1982...
. He was the fifth Western Australian batsman to make a century
Century
A century is one hundred consecutive years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages .-Start and end in the Gregorian Calendar:...
on first-class debut for the state. Later that season, Hughes scored a second century, against Clive Lloyd
Clive Lloyd
Clive Hubert Lloyd CBE AO is a former West Indies cricketer. He captained the West Indies between 1974 and 1985 and oversaw their rise to become the dominant Test-playing nation, a position that was only relinquished in the latter half of the 1990s...
's touring West Indians
West Indian cricket team
The West Indian cricket team, also known colloquially as the West Indies or the Windies, is a multi-national cricket team representing a sporting confederation of 15 mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries, British dependencies and non-British dependencies.From the mid 1970s to the early 1990s,...
. In his first season for Western Australia, Hughes made 494 runs at an average of 32.93.
In the winter of 1976, Hughes played as a professional for Watsonians Cricket Club, a team based around former students of George Watson's College
George Watson's College
George Watson's College, known informally as Watson's, is a co-educational independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a hospital school in 1741, became a day school in 1871 and was merged with its sister school...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. Hughes would later call this period "possibly the best six months of my life."
Test debut
Playing for Western Australia against the touring Pakistan team in December 1976, Hughes made 137 runs from only 167 balls, placing his name in front of the national selectorsSelector (sport)
In many team sports, a selection panel consist of selectors who choose teams or individuals to represent a country or club in sporting competitions.Selectors tend to be past players....
. The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
reported that "[r]arely has a batsman of his limited experience been seen in a more majestic performance". A few weeks later, Hughes was called up as twelfth man for Australia in the New Year's Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
(MCG). Substituting on the field for Ian Davis
Ian Davis (cricketer)
Ian Charles Davis is a former Australian cricketer who played in 15 Tests and 3 ODIs from 1973 to 1977...
, he injured his shoulder attempting to catch Imran Khan
Imran Khan
Imran Khan Niazi is a Pakistani politician and former Pakistani cricketer, playing international cricket for two decades in the late twentieth century. After retiring, he entered politics...
. Missing the rest of the Pakistan matches, Hughes was included in the Australian team to tour New Zealand. Hughes, again suffering from homesickness, did not play in either of the two Tests.
Four weeks after marrying his girlfriend, Hughes left for England as a member of the 1977 Australian team
Australian cricket team in England in 1977
The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1977 season to play a five Test matches for the 1977 Ashes series against England. The Australians also played 3 one day internationals and 19 other tour matches....
. The tour was an unhappy one for the Australian team, losing the series three Tests to nil to England and the embryonic World Series Cricket
World Series Cricket
World Series Cricket was a break away professional cricket competition staged between 1977 and 1979 and organised by Kerry Packer for his Australian television network, Nine Network. The matches ran in opposition to established international cricket...
concept caused rifts between the team members. Hughes did not play much cricket early in the tour; Wisden Cricketers' Almanack saying that he was "kept in such idleness that [he] might have claimed restraint of trade
Restraint of trade
Restraint of trade is a common law doctrine relating to the enforceability of contractual restrictions on freedom to conduct business. In an old leading case of Mitchell v Reynolds Lord Smith LC said,...
." He was selected to make his Test debut in the fifth Test, after the series had already been decided. Hughes, bitter about his treatment by the tour selectors, was unhappy. Hughes told a reporter congratulating him about his upcoming Test debut "Those pricks, now they have made me part of their failure". In an uncharacteristic performance, Hughes faced thirty four deliveries before he made his first run. It was the only run he made that innings, before he was dismissed by Mike Hendrick
Mike Hendrick
Michael Hendrick is a former English cricketer, who played in thirty Tests and twenty two ODIs for England from 1973 to 1981...
. Hughes' teammate Geoff Dymock
Geoff Dymock
Geoffrey Dymock is a former Australian and Queensland cricketer. He played in 21 Tests and 15 One Day Internationals between 1974 and 1980. He was the third bowler to dismiss all eleven opposition players in a test match, and remains one of only six players to have achieved this unusual...
later said, "They threw [Hughes] to the wolves."
World Series Cricket years
World Series Cricket (WSC) divided the Australian team into two camps; those that had signed lucrative contracts with Kerry PackerKerry Packer
Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer, AC was an Australian media tycoon. The son of Sir Frank Packer and Gretel Bullmore, the Packer family company owned controlling interest in both the Nine television network and leading Australian publishing company Australian Consolidated Press, which were later...
's rebel group and those, like Hughes, who had remained with the establishment Australian Cricket Board (ACB). Hughes' boyhood idol, Austin Robertson Jr, acted as Packer's agent, signing players to the new cricket venture, eventually signing 13 of the 17 players who toured England; Hughes was a notable omission. Robertson claims that he did not approach Hughes about a WSC contract; Hughes claims that he was approached but indicated his unwillingness. In September 1977, Hughes made clear his attachment to traditional cricket in a statement.
The first season of the divide saw the ACB bring the 41-year-old Bob Simpson
Bob Simpson (cricketer)
Robert Baddeley Simpson AO is a former cricketer who played for New South Wales, Western Australia and Australia, captaining the national team from 1963–64 until 1967–68, and again in 1977–78. He later had a highly successful term as the coach of the Australian team...
out of retirement to captain the Australians against the touring Indians. Hughes fell one run short of a century against the tourists for Western Australia but missed out on selection for the first Test at the Gabba in Brisbane, instead named as twelfth man. Hughes was chosen for the second Test at the WACA Ground
WACA Ground
The WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association....
in Perth, where he made 28 in the first innings and a duck in the second. He was omitted for the third Test in Melbourne but returned for the fourth Test in Sydney. At the Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
, Hughes made 17 and 19, with Bishan Bedi
Bishan Singh Bedi
Bishan Singh Bedi is a former Indian cricketer who was primarily a slow left-arm orthodox bowler. He played Test cricket for India from 1966 to 1979 and formed part of the famous Indian spin quartet. He also captained the national side in 22 Test matches...
dismissing him on both occasions. Again, Hughes was left out of the Australian team; at this stage he had not played two Test matches consecutively.
Hughes travelled to the Caribbean as a member of the Australian cricket team to play the West Indies in 1978. During the first match on tour against the Leeward Islands
Leeward Islands cricket team
The Leeward Islands cricket team is a first class cricket team representing the member countries of the Leeward Islands Cricket Association, a regional association which again is part of the West Indies Cricket Board. Contrary to the normal English definition of the Leeward Islands, Dominica is not...
at Basseterre
Basseterre
Basseterre , estimated population 15,500 in 2000, is the capital of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis in the West Indies. Geographically, the Basseterre port is located at , on the south western coast of Saint Kitts Island, and it is one of the chief commercial depots of the Leeward Islands...
, Saint Kitts
Saint Kitts
Saint Kitts Saint Kitts Saint Kitts (also known more formally as Saint Christopher Island (Saint-Christophe in French) is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean...
, Hughes suffered from appendicitis
Appendicitis
Appendicitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the appendix. It is classified as a medical emergency and many cases require removal of the inflamed appendix, either by laparotomy or laparoscopy. Untreated, mortality is high, mainly because of the risk of rupture leading to...
and had his appendix removed. The wound became infected and Hughes had to beg team management to be allowed to remain on the tour. Despite his later recovery, he did not play any of the Tests; his personality and attitude to the game did not meet with the approval of the captain, Simpson. A reporter wrote at the time, "Kim Hughes is the most frustrated, disillusioned young man in the West Indies today and with good reason. [...] Never, at any stage, has Simpson considered Hughes a Test prospect."
Mike Brearley
Mike Brearley
John Michael Brearley OBE is a former cricketer who captained the England cricket team in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 17 and losing only 4. He was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 2007–08.-Early life:...
led his English team to Australia in 1978–79 on the back of his victory over the Greg Chappell-led Australians in 1977. With Simpson standing down from international cricket, Graham Yallop
Graham Yallop
Graham Neil Yallop is a former cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. He captained Australia briefly during the tumultuous era of World Series Cricket in the late 1970s...
was the new Australian captain, leading an inexperienced Australian team, with only Gary Cosier
Gary Cosier
Gary John Cosier is a former Australian test cricketer who played in 18 Tests and 9 ODIs from 1975 to 1979. Cosier's star shone very briefly following a sensational test debut, when he became only the ninth Australian to post a century in his first Test.-Cricket career:The stocky, redheaded Cosier...
having played over 10 Tests before the series began; Hughes had only played two Tests. The Australians were no match for the experienced England team, losing the series and the Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
five Tests to one. Playing in all six Tests, Hughes scored 345 runs at an average of 28.75; only Yallop scored more runs in what was a poor batting performance by Australia. Hughes' only century came in the first Test at Brisbane. Having been bowled out for 116, in their first innings, Australia had lost three wickets for only 49 runs (49/3) in the second innings when Hughes joined Yallop at the crease. Yallop and Hughes scored 170 runs in partnership before Yallop was dismissed for 102. Hughes continued on and was the last Australian wicket to fall, top-scoring with 129; his maiden Test century. While England won the match by seven wickets, Hughes and Yallop at least made the Australian effort look respectable.
A young captain
With the Ashes series played and lost, Australia hosted Pakistan for a two-Test series at the end of the Australian 1978–79 season. Pakistan won the first Test by 71 runs after Sarfraz NawazSarfraz Nawaz
Sarfraz Nawaz Malik is a former Pakistani Test cricketer and politician who discovered reverse swing and was instrumental in Pakistan's first Test series victories over India and England. Between 1969 and 1984 he played 55 Tests and 45 One Day Internationals and was Imran Khan's regular new ball...
took an incredible seven wickets for only one run in the Australian second innings. Before the second Test, Yallop tore his calf muscle playing for Richmond
Richmond Cricket Club
This article concerns the Richmond club in Australia. For the English club of the same name, see Richmond Cricket Club, SurreyThe Richmond Cricket Club is an Australian cricket club based in Richmond, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Victoria....
—his club side—and had to withdraw from the Australian team. Hughes, playing only his eleventh Test, was named as Australian captain; the first Western Australian to lead the national team.
Hughes took to the leadership role with enthusiasm, boasting of a "new era". Bowling in the nets before the start of the third day's play, Hughes rolled his ankle and was not able to take his place in the field. While he sat in the dressing room, the Australian team, desperate to end the Pakistan tenth-wicket partnership "Mankaded" (run out the batsman at the non-striker's end before bowling the ball) Sikander Bakht
Sikander Bakht (cricketer)
Sikander Bakht is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 26 Tests and 27 ODIs from 1976 to 1989. He is remembered for demolishing the Indian team for just 126 runs taking 8 wickets in the innings in the 2nd Test match of the 1979 tour of Pakistan to India.He was included in the team in place...
. During Australia's second innings, Andrew Hilditch
Andrew Hilditch
Andrew Mark Jefferson Hilditch is a former Australian cricketer who played in 18 Tests and 8 ODIs from 1979 to 1985. He played for New South Wales from 1977 to 1981 and for South Australia from 1982 to 1992...
picked up the ball after a return from a fieldsman and, in an attempt to be helpful, handed it to Sarfraz. Sarfraz appeal
Appeal (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an appeal is the act of a player on the fielding team asking an umpire for a decision regarding whether a batsman is out or not. According to the Laws of Cricket, an umpire may not rule a batsman out unless the fielding side appeals...
ed for a handling the ball
Handled the ball
Handled the ball is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket.-Definition:Law 33 of the Laws of cricket provides that:"Either batsman is out Handled the ball if he wilfully touches the ball while in play with a hand or hands not holding the bat unless he does so with the consent of the opposing...
dismissal, and Hildtich was given out by umpire Tony Crafter
Tony Crafter
Anthony Ronald Crafter, , was an Australian Test cricket match umpire.He umpired 33 Test matches between 1979 and 1992, the highest number by an Australian umpire to that time...
. While within the laws of the game
Laws of cricket
The laws of cricket are a set of rules established by the Marylebone Cricket Club which describe the laws of cricket worldwide, to ensure uniformity and fairness. There are currently 42 laws, which outline all aspects of how the game is played from how a team wins a game, how a batsman is...
, both dismissals were generally seen as unsportsmanlike. Hughes said of his own team's actions, "It was just part of cricket" while condemning the actions of Sarfraz: "It just wasn't cricket". In the end, Australia won the second Test and tied the series one Test apiece. Hughes had started his Australian captaincy with a win.
His success in his one Test in charge saw Hughes appointed as captain of the Australian team for the 1979 Cricket World Cup
1979 Cricket World Cup
The 1979 Cricket World Cup was the second edition of the tournament and was won by the West Indies. It was held from June 9 to June 23, 1979 in England. The format had remained unchanged from 1975. Eight countries participated in the event. The preliminary matches were played in 2 groups of 4...
to be held in England. The Australian team was not expected to do well and lived up to those low expectations by not making the semi-finals. A Test series in India was next for Hughes and his team. In a rain-affected series, Australia was unable to win a match, losing two and drawing another four. However, Wisden had praise for Hughes, remarking that there "was a marked development in Hughes's technique of playing spin bowling" and that "the heavy burden of captaincy had no adverse effect on his batting". His best performance was in the first Test at Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
(then called Madras), where he scored exactly 100 runs in the first innings, batting in a responsible fashion. Over the series, Hughes topped the aggregate and the averages for Australia, scoring 594 runs at an average of 59.40.
Reunification
Ian Chappell
Ian Michael Chappell is a former cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. He captained Australia between 1971 and 1975 before taking a central role in the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation...
agreed saying, "Frankly, I can't even see a spot in the [Australian] squad for Hughes" Ultimately Hughes was included in the Australian squad, but was now vice-captain, with Greg Chappell
Greg Chappell
Gregory Stephen Chappell MBE is a former cricketer who captained Australia between 1975 and 1977 and then joined the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation, before returning to the Australian captaincy in 1979, a position he held until his retirement 1983...
—the captain before the split—restored to this position.
England and the West Indies both toured Australia in 1979–80. Hughes started the summer well, making 139 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
in the first Test against a West Indian line-up including bowlers such as Andy Roberts, Michael Holding
Michael Holding
Michael Anthony Holding is a former West Indian cricketer. One of the fastest bowlers ever to play Test cricket, he was nicknamed 'Whispering Death' by umpires due to his quiet approach to the bowling crease...
and Joel Garner
Joel Garner
Joel Garner , also known as "Big Joel" or "Big Bird", is a former West Indian cricketer, and a member of the highly regarded late 1970s and early '80s West Indies cricket teams....
. He hit 18 boundaries
Boundary (cricket)
Boundary has two distinct meanings in the sport of cricket:# the edge or boundary of the playing field, and# a manner of scoring runs.-Edge of the field:...
that innings, 10 of them from the hook shot. The next Test, against England in Perth, Hughes was out one run short of his century, attempting to hit Derek Underwood
Derek Underwood
Derek Underwood MBE is an English former international cricketer, and a former President of the MCC....
out of the ground. A short tour to play Pakistan followed in February 1980, where Hughes made 182 runs in the three-Test series, averaging 36.40.
The Centenary Test at Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
in 1980 was a triumph for Hughes. Much of the first three days' play was lost due to bad weather but in that time Hughes played what Wisden would describe as "two innings of the highest quality." Hughes scored a century in the first innings, 117 runs including 14 fours and 3 sixes. His second innings only totalled 84 runs before he was dismissed by Ian Botham
Ian Botham
Sir Ian Terence Botham OBE is a former England Test cricketer and Test team captain, and current cricket commentator. He was a genuine all-rounder with 14 centuries and 383 wickets in Test cricket, and remains well-known by his nickname "Beefy"...
. It was this innings, however, that was seen as his most brilliant of the match. His 84 runs included 11 fours and 2 sixes, one of which struck the top deck of the pavilion; Hughes having stepped down the pitch to hit Chris Old
Chris Old
Chris Old is an English former cricketer, who played in forty six Tests and thirty two ODIs from 1972 to 1981....
back over his head. Former England captain Gubby Allen
Gubby Allen
Sir George Oswald Browning "Gubby" Allen, CBE was a cricketer who played for Middlesex, Cambridge University, MCC and England. Australian-born, Allen was a fast bowler and hard-hitting lower-order batsman, who captained England in eleven Test matches...
could not recall a more remarkable straight hit. Cricket writer RS Whitington had to cast his mind back more than 40 years to describe Hughes' batting as "the nearest approach to Stan McCabe
Stan McCabe
Stanley Joseph McCabe was an Australian cricketer who played 39 Test matches for Australia from 1930 to 1938. A short, stocky right-hander,...
in full flurry". The Test was drawn and Hughes was given the Man of the Match
Man of the match
In sport, a Man of the Match or Player of the Game or Man of the Series award is given to the outstanding player, almost always the one who makes the most impact, in a particular match or series. The term was originally used more often in cricket before being adopted by other sports. This can be a...
award, having batted on each of the five days of the match. His performance in the Centenary Test saw him named as one of the 1981 Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...
. This Test saw Hughes become the only cricketer to hit a six on all five days of a Test match.
Hughes struggled against New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
in 1980–81, making only 102 runs at an average of 27.25 in three Tests. Rumours about Hughes' selection prospects again began to circulate. While Hughes was batting in the tradional Australia Day Test in Adelaide, this time against India, later that summer, his nemesis Ian Chappell opined on the airwaves that "Hughes really does need to build up a big score here. People are starting to talk about him being dropped." In seeming response to this criticism, Hughes scored a double-century; 213 runs including 21 boundaries. A "magnificent innings" Wisden declared, adding that Hughes' batting "touched the heights" and that "[w]ith brilliant footwork, he scored freely off the spinners." Hughes dedicated his innings to his newborn twin sons, Sean and Simon.
On-again, off-again skipper
Australian cricket team in England in 1981
The tour by the Australian cricket team in England in 1981 included the 51st Ashes series of Test matches between Australia and England. Despite having been 1–0 down after two Tests, England won the next three Tests to finish 3–1 victors , thus retaining the Ashes...
. Before the squad was selected, Greg Chappell announced that he would not be leading the Australian team, citing business and family reasons. In his absence, the Australian Cricket Board turned to Hughes as captain. The Australian team arrived in England in May and was greeted by rain, leaving them short of needed match practice. Nevertheless, Hughes and his team unexpectedly won the preliminary One Day International series. The first Test was played at Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...
in Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
. Australia won the low scoring and rain affected match by six wickets, after Hughes had taken the opportunity to put England into bat after winning the toss. Australia then had the best of a drawn match in the second Test at Lord's. After making a pair in this match, Ian Botham resigned his position as captain of England.
The third Test of the series was played at Headingley in Leeds. Hughes' Australians had the better of the early part of the match. Batting first, Australia made 401 runs; with Hughes contributing 89 of them. In response England only scored 179 runs and Hughes enforced the follow-on
Follow-on
Follow-on is a term used in the sport of cricket to describe a situation where the team that bats second is forced to take its second batting innings immediately after its first, because the team was not able to get close enough to the score achieved by the first team batting in the first innings...
(forced to take its second batting innings immediately after its first). England were reduced to 135/7 in their second innings and the on-ground bookmaker
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
s decided to offer odds
Odds
The odds in favor of an event or a proposition are expressed as the ratio of a pair of integers, which is the ratio of the probability that an event will happen to the probability that it will not happen...
of 500–1 on an England victory. Ian Botham and Bob Willis
Bob Willis
Robert George Dylan Willis MBE , known as Bob Willis, is a former English cricketer who played for Surrey, Warwickshire, Northern Transvaal and England...
turned the match on its head. In an extraordinary innings Botham made 149 runs, allowing England to set a target of 130 runs for Australia to win. Willis then took eight wickets for only 43 runs as Australia were all out for 111. Hughes and his Australian team had lost the match from what should have been an unbeatable position. Later, explaining what had happened, Hughes said "Botham rode his luck and we couldn't get him out. [...] In the first innings they missed catches—even Botham and [David] Gower missed them—but in the second they held everything. I'd seen Bob Willis bowl just as well at other times and not take nearly as many wickets." Australia lost the fourth Test at Edgbaston
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...
in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. This time, requiring only 151 runs to win the match, Australia reached 105/4 and seemed certain to win the match. Again, it was Botham who turned the match around, capturing 5 wickets in the space of 28 deliveries while only conceding one run. In the final Test of the series, Hughes chose to shepherd the strike to protect his partner Yallop, who was a specialist batsman. This action, something normally only done for poor, tail-end batsmen, humiliated Yallop. England won the series three Tests to one and retained the Ashes. The series was later known as "Botham's summer."
With Chappell again available, Hughes returned to the vice-captaincy for the 1981–82 Tests. Australia played Pakistan first in an ill-tempered three Test series; won by the Australians two Tests to one. Hughes started the series with a century (106) in the first Test in Perth and finished the series having scored 193 runs overall. The other touring side that summer were the West Indies, widely considered the best team in the world at that time and supported by a potent fast bowling attack. The first Test in the series was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Both teams were critical of the pitch
Cricket pitch
In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
prepared at the MCG for the Test. Australia were quickly reduced to 26/4 before Hughes started his effort to recover the Australian innings. Hughes decided to attack the West Indian bowling. In an interview later he said "that to hang around and defend was going to be a waste of time ... So I thought what I could do was try to play as many shots as possible." When the ninth wicket fell, Hughes had made 71 and it appeared a century was out of reach. Hughes' remaining batting partner, Alderman, was a poor batsman; it had taken him nine matches to make his first first-class run. Alderman, despite telling Hughes that he didn't give himself much chance, managed to stay with Hughes long enough for Hughes to reach 100 runs. Hughes' innings was widely praised. West Indian Andy Roberts said "He took up the challenge and it paid off for him. It was a great innings. You don't find one batsman playing that sort of innings on more than one occasion. That was just his day." The Wisden 100
Wisden 100
The Wisden 100 is a set of lists created by Wisden which attempted to objectively rate the 100 best individual innings performances in Test and One Day International cricket in each of the disciplines of batting and bowling...
, a ranking of the Top 100 Test Innings of all time, ranked that innings as number nine.
Last days of the Chappell era
In three Tests, Hughes scored only 29 runs on tour in New Zealand in March 1982. Greg Chappell withdrew from the Australian team to tour Pakistan in 1982, along with Dennis LilleeDennis Lillee
Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...
and Len Pascoe
Len Pascoe
Leonard Stephen Pascoe is a former Australian Test and ODI cricketer. He attended Punchbowl Boys' High School in New South Wales....
. The fourteen Australian Cricket Board delegates met in March to decide on an interim captain for the tour, with the two candidates Hughes and Rod Marsh. Hughes narrowly won the vote, 8 votes to 6. Marsh was offered the vice-captaincy, which he declined. Marsh later withdrew from the tour as a result of his son's illness. It was a difficult tour for Hughes' Australians. All members of the touring squad suffered from illness at one stage and at one stage Hughes threatened to take his team back to Australia after several Australian fielders were hit by projectiles thrown from the stands. Intelligent bowling by Pakistan's Abdul Qadir
Abdul Qadir (cricketer)
Abdul Qadir Khan is a former Pakistani international cricketer, later commentator and was recently the Chief Selector of Pakistan Cricket Board. He resigned from the post because of his differences with the top brass of Pakistan cricket board...
combined with poor fielding and lack of depth in Australia's batting saw Pakistan defeat Australia three Tests to nil.
Hughes had hoped to retain the captaincy for the Ashes series in 1982–83, but the ACB chose to restore Chappell to his former position. Hughes' demotion did not affect his batting, however. He scored 469 runs against the English at an average of 67.00. His consistent run scoring saw Bill O'Reilly
Bill O'Reilly (cricketer)
William Joseph "Bill" O'Reilly , often known as Tiger O'Reilly, was an Australian cricketer, rated as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. Following his retirement from playing, he became a well-respected cricket writer and broadcaster.O'Reilly was one of the best spin bowlers to...
call Hughes "Mr. Reliable" and even Ian Chappell remarked that "After this series, not only should Hughes' conscience be clear but his slate clean in regard to the 1981 [Ashes] disaster." The highlight of the summer for Hughes was the final Test in Sydney where he batted for over 6 hours to score 137 runs. Australia retrieved the Ashes, winning the series two Tests to one. Not long after the match, Chappell relinquished his position as Australian captain; Hughes was now captain of a full-strength Australian team for the first time.
Australia did not make it out of the group stage in the 1983 Cricket World Cup
1983 Cricket World Cup
The 1983 ICC Cricket World Cup was the third edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament. It was held from 9 June to 25 June 1983 in England and was won by India. Eight countries participated in the event. The preliminary matches were played in two groups of four teams each, and each...
, winning only two of their six matches played. Hughes' team was embarrassed by a loss in their first match against Zimbabwe, at the time a mainly amateur side. There was a chance that Australia could still make the semi-finals with a win against India. Hughes chose to sit out the match, to give a minor injury time to heal. In his absence the Australian team was dismissed for 129 and bundled out of the tournament. Hughes decision to pull out of the match drew some criticism from the Australian press: "Hughes decision not to play was lamentable [...] this Australian team does not have a capable leader." On his return to Australia, David Hookes
David Hookes
David William Hookes was an Australian cricketer, broadcaster and coach of the Victorian cricket team. An aggressive left-handed batsman, Hookes usually batted in the middle order...
publicly advocated for Rod Marsh to be appointed Australian captain in Hughes' place, saying on Adelaide radio, "Maybe Kim has got to be an apprentice to someone everyone respects." Hughes replied 'It's nice to know the Australian captain has got the support of his vice-captain." Under some pressure from cricket officials, Hughes was persuaded that he should stand down from the captaincy and a letter was drafted to this effect; he changed his mind the following morning.
Once again, the Australian Cricket Board voted 8–6 to appoint Hughes as captain for the 1983–84 series against Pakistan
Pakistani cricket team in Australia in 1983-84
The Pakistan national cricket team toured Australia in the 1983-84 season and played 5 Test matches against Australia. Australia won the series 2-0.-Test series summary:* at WACA Ground – Australia won by an innings and 9 runs...
. This time Hughes led a full strength Australian team, including former captain Greg Chappell and his fellow Western Australians, Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh. Hughes' Australians defeated Pakistan comfortably, two Tests to nil. Hughes himself scored 375 runs in the series, including one century at Adelaide where he "confounded the cunning Qadir
Abdul Qadir (cricketer)
Abdul Qadir Khan is a former Pakistani international cricketer, later commentator and was recently the Chief Selector of Pakistan Cricket Board. He resigned from the post because of his differences with the top brass of Pakistan cricket board...
". At the end the season, Chappell, Lillee and Marsh—the Australian team's most experienced players—retired from international cricket.
Downfall
Australia was scheduled to tour the West Indies in 1984. The players selected for the tour were presented with official contracts by the Australian Cricket Board. The contracts sought to bind the players to only play in ACB approved cricket for a period of twelve months after the expiry of the tour, without offering any additional compensation. To the dismay of the Board, Hughes stood by his team and with his lawyer drafted a compromise agreement that gave the players some financial security. The West Indies was commonly regarded at that times as the best team in the world and Hughes' new-look Australian team now had to take them on without the recently retired Marsh, Lillee and Chappell. Bob Simpson commented, "The saddest and hardest lot for any captain is taking over the remnants of a once-great team. I wouldn't be in Hughes' shoes for quids." In addition, the Australian team was badly affected by injury; Yallop withdrew with a knee injury and Kepler WesselsKepler Wessels
Kepler Christoffel Wessels is a former South African cricketer who captained South Africa after playing 24 Tests for Australia. He was the first man to have played One Day International cricket for two countries....
, Graeme Wood
Graeme Wood
Graeme Malcolm Wood is a former Australian cricketer who played in 59 Tests and 83 ODIs from 1978 to 1989. He scored nine Test centuries in his career and it was a West Australian record until 2001-02 when it was passed by Justin Langer....
, Steve Smith, Rodney Hogg
Rodney Hogg
Rodney Malcolm Hogg is a former Victorian, South Australian and Australian cricketer. He was a fast bowler. Hogg played in 38 Tests and 71 ODIs between 1978 and 1985. In Tests he took 123 wickets at an average of 28.47.-Career:...
and Carl Rackemann
Carl Rackemann
Carl Gray Rackemann OAM , born in Wondai, Queensland, is a former Queensland and Australian cricketer. He was a fast bowler in 12 Tests, 52 ODIs and 167 first-class cricket matches in a career spanning 1979–80 to 1995–96....
all were unfit to play at times during the tour.
Australia lost the series three Tests to nil. After managing to draw the first two Tests, they lost the next three; the West Indies did not lose a second innings wicket all tour. Hughes did not have a successful tour with the bat, scoring 215 runs at an average of 21.50. The pressure of the tour told on Hughes. In a match against Trinidad and Tobago, Hughes protested against what he saw as unreasonableness by the opposition by treating the remainder of the match with contempt; not attempting to win. Afterwards Hughes said he could not care less about the welfare of cricket in Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
; management fined him for this comment. In the second Test, Rodney Hogg threw a punch at Hughes, frustrated that he was not given the field he wanted by his captain.
There was no respite for the Australians; the West Indies returned to Australia for the 1984–85 season. The Australian team remained positive; Allan Border said, "We are thinking of beating them, Laugh all you want." Despite this attitude, the Australians lost the first Test by an innings and 112 runs. Hughes made only four runs in the first innings, out
playing the hook shot despite a pre-series pledge not to play the stroke. Again, the pressure from the media came; Ian Chappell used his newspaper column to heavily criticise Hughes. Chappell continued his criticism of Hughes during the standard pre-match interview before the broadcast of the second Test in Brisbane. The Test was another struggle for the Australians. Australia was bowled out for 175 and then Hughes then dropped two catches in the West Indian innings. In the Australian second innings, Hughes made only four. The next morning, before play, Hughes rang the Australia team manager and said "I want to quit as Australian captain."
Relinquishing the captaincy
With assistance from Greg Chappell, Hughes wrote his letter of resignation. During the day's play, Hughes confided in his team mates, announcing his decision. Allan BorderAllan Border
Allan Robert Border AO is a former Australian cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team. His playing nickname was "A.B.". He played 156 Test matches in his career, a record until it was passed by fellow Australian Steve Waugh...
, his vice-captain, advised him to reconsider; Hughes refused. At the press conference at the end of the day's play, Hughes announced, "I have something to read." Hughes was visibly emotional while reading his letter and broke down in tears halfway through, leaving the rest for team manager Bob Merriman to read on his behalf as he quickly left the press conference. Australia went on to lose the match by eight wickets, with Hughes scoring 34 and 4.
Press reaction to Hughes' resignation and his emotional state was mixed. Former Australian captain and television broadcaster Bill Lawry
Bill Lawry
William Morris "Bill" Lawry, AM is a former cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. He captained Australia in 25 Tests, winning nine, losing eight and drawing eight, and led Australia in the inaugural One Day International match, played in 1971...
said "The demise of Kim Hughes in Brisbane in a manner equal to be being dragged down like a dingo in the pack and devoured by your own, within and without, was a disgrace." The respected ABC radio broadcaster Alan McGilvray
Alan McGilvray
Alan David McGilvray AM MBE was an Australian cricketer who played several first-class seasons for New South Wales in the mid-1930s before becoming the doyen of Australian cricket commentators...
on the other hand was more blunt: "[Hughes] is a little boy who has not yet grown up." Hughes was widely mocked for his tears, which were seen as unmanly and un-Australian. Barry Humphries
Barry Humphries
John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE is an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the...
—the satirist behind Dame Edna Everage
Dame Edna Everage
Dame Edna is a character created and played by Australian dadaist performer and comedian, Barry Humphries, famous for her lilac-coloured or "wisteria hue" hair and cat eye glasses or "face furniture," her favorite flower, the gladiola and her boisterous greeting: "Hello Possums!" As Dame Edna,...
and Sir Les Patterson
Sir Les Patterson
Dr Sir Leslie Colin Patterson is a fictional character portrayed by the Australian comedian Barry Humphries. Obese, lecherous and offensive, this farting, belching, nose-picking figure of Rabelaisian excess is an antipodean Falstaff...
—wondered if "Kim's cricket box was on too tight" and claimed that a real Australian in that situation "would simply chunder
Vomiting
Vomiting is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose...
". In 2002, a British journalist remarked of Hughes' tears as "one inadequate captain getting life so out of proportion as to make a complete clown of himself." It is claimed in the press from time to time that Hughes is now as much remembered for his tears as for his achievements in cricket.
Hughes retained his place in the Australian team for the third Test in Adelaide under new captain, Allan Border. Hughes failed in both innings, scoring a duck
Duck (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's dismissal for a score of zero.-Origin of the term:The term is a shortening of the term "duck's egg", the latter being used long before Test cricket began...
in the first innings and only two runs in the second. Hughes joined the Australian team in Melbourne for the fourth Test. Despite warm support from the MCG crowd, Hughes made a humiliating pair; in his last innings he was out from the first ball he faced—a golden duck
Duck (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's dismissal for a score of zero.-Origin of the term:The term is a shortening of the term "duck's egg", the latter being used long before Test cricket began...
. He never played in a Test match again. He played in some of the remaining One Day Internationals but without success. When the Australian team was chosen for the tour of England in 1985
Australian cricket team in England in 1985
The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1985 season to play a six-match Test series against England.England won the series 3-1 with two matches drawn...
, Hughes was not included.
Rebel and retirement
While the Australian team for England was being selected, the South African Cricket Union (SACU) was arranging a "rebel" Australian team to tour South Africa. As a result of the apartheid policy of the white minority government, South Africa was cast out of the International Cricket CouncilInternational Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
and subjected to a boycott. With his old adversaries Greg Chappell as a national selector and Rod Marsh playing an analogous role for the Western Australian team, Hughes felt that his options in Australian cricket were limited and he chose to join the rebel team as the captain. Hughes was one of the last players to join the rebel team; indeed he found out that many of the rebel squad had signed up with the South Africans during the 1983 World Cup, when he was confirmed as captain. At a press conference after the announcement of the team, Hughes announced: Hughes was heavily criticised for his decision. Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
called him a hypocrite and Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
Bob Hawke
Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....
called him a comforter of racists. The criticism was hurtful to Hughes who, seemingly puzzled, remarked to friends "People think I'm a racist." In South Africa, even before his team arrived Hughes was "a hero, larger than a Reagan ... [Australia's] most exotic export since Breaker Morant
Breaker Morant
Harry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant was an Anglo-Australian drover, horseman, poet, soldier and convicted war criminal whose skill with horses earned him the nickname "The Breaker"...
."
The rebel team played two series against the South African team—in 1985–86 and 1986–87—and lost them both 1 "Test" to nil. In the first series, Hughes left himself stranded on 97 when the second "Test" at Newlands
Newlands Cricket Ground
Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town is a South African cricket ground. It's the home of the Cape Cobras, who play in the SuperSport Series, MTN Domestic Championship and Standard Bank Pro20 competitions. It is also a venue for Test matches. Newlands is regarded as one of the most beautiful cricket...
in Capetown ended in a draw. In the following match at Wanderers
Wanderers Stadium
BIDVest Wanderers Stadium is a stadium situated just south of Sandton in Illovo, Johannesburg in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Test, One Day and First class cricket matches are played here. It is also the home ground for the Highveld Lions, formerly known as Gauteng .The stadium has a seating...
in Johannesburg, Hughes was dismissed for a golden pair; dismissed by first ball he faced in both innings. Hughes scored 585 runs at an average of 45.00 in the 1985–86 South African season and followed that with 596 runs at an average of 42.57 in 1986–87. In 2007, Hughes reflected on his participation in the rebel tours: "Cricket was at the forefront of trying to break down barriers and when you look how cricket has developed in South Africa I was very pleased to be involved."
Following the rebel tours, Hughes returned to Western Australia. The Western Australian Cricket Association attempted to ban him from club cricket in Western Australia. In response Hughes took action against the WACA for restraint of trade
Restraint of trade
Restraint of trade is a common law doctrine relating to the enforceability of contractual restrictions on freedom to conduct business. In an old leading case of Mitchell v Reynolds Lord Smith LC said,...
; he won the case in the Federal Court of Australia
Federal Court of Australia
The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law , along with some summary criminal matters. Cases are heard at first instance by single Judges...
—the WACA lost several hundred thousand dollars in court costs. Before the start of the 1987–88 season, Marsh resigned his position as a Western Australian selector; by December Hughes had made his way back into the Western Australian team as an opener, where he scored 76 runs against New South Wales. He played six matches for Western Australia that year scoring 223 runs at an average of 22.30. The following season Hughes played only two games for Western Australia, with the state side finding little room for a man now aged 34.
In September 1989, Hughes signed on as captain of Natal in the South African Currie Cup
SuperSport Series
The SuperSport Series is the main domestic first class cricket competition in South Africa, first contested in 1889-90. From 1990-91 it became known as the Castle Cup, and from 1996-97 by its current title...
competition. His two seasons with Natal were disappointing for the team and himself; Natal struggled on the field and there was disharmony amongst the squad. With the bat he scored 176 runs at an average of 13.53 in 1989–90 and 266 at 24.16 in 1990–91. He did, however, have a positive influence on two cricketers who later represented South Africa. Andrew Hudson
Andrew Hudson
Andrew Charles Hudson was a South African Test and ODI cricketer. The right-handed batsman played 35 Tests and 89 One Day Internationals for South Africa in the 1990s. His career spanned 16 consecutive summers, playing for both his country and his province KwaZulu-Natal...
claimed that "Kim installed a positiveness and a self-belief" in him and Jonty Rhodes
Jonty Rhodes
Jonathan Neil "Jonty" Rhodes is a former South African Test and One Day International cricketer who played for the South African cricket team between 1992 and 2003.Rhodes was born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal Province, South Africa...
—who stayed in Hughes' home during Natal home matches—wanted to play with the same passion as Hughes: "There are too many robots ... Kim was emotional because he cared. I wanted to be the same." During his second season at Natal, Hughes was dropped from the Natal side and later was dropped from the Natal "B" side. He retired from all first-class cricket in February 1991.
Personal life
After finishing high school, Hughes attended Graylands Teachers CollegeGraylands Teachers College
Graylands Teachers College was a primary teacher education institution, established in Graylands in Western Australia in 1955. It became the second teachers' college, after Claremont Teachers College, to be established in the state, with three others subsequently opened...
to train as a primary school teacher. Graylands was established as a stop-gap measure but by the time Hughes arrived it had been operating for two decades and the facilities were run down and almost derelict. In 1974, his final year at Graylands, Hughes was elected President of the student council and in this role he led a campaign to improve the facilities for the faculty and students. The campaign, which included an appearance by Hughes on the ABC television current affairs program This Day Tonight
This Day Tonight
This Day Tonight was an Australian Broadcasting Corporation current affairs program of the late 1960s and early 1970s.- Overview :...
, met with some measure of success.
His first job as a teacher was at Linden Park Primary School in Linden Park
Linden Park, South Australia
-References:...
during his attempt to make the South Australian team in 1974. After teaching, he found employment in the finance industry, working first for City Building Society as a promotions manager and later for Town & Country Building Society in a marketing role. Town & Country used Hughes to promote their business both in advertising and in through direct contact with investors. In return, Hughes was afforded time away from work to pursue cricket. The General Manager of Town & Country described the relationship: "[Hughes] was a great player, well presented, good looking. He was a family man. He fitted the Town & Country mould admirably."
Hughes was a skilled Australian rules footballer as a junior and was invited to play with Claremont Football Club
Claremont Football Club
The Claremont Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football club in the West Australian Football League . Its official colours are navy blue and gold....
in the West Australian National Football League
West Australian Football League
The West Australian Football League is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The WAFL is the second-most popular in the state, behind the nation-wide Australian Football League...
. He played two seasons at Claremont—1973 and 1974—alternating between the under-21 and the reserve teams, but did not manage to make the senior team. The Claremont coach, Verdun Howell
Verdun Howell
Verdun John Howell is a former Australian rules footballer in the VFL .Howell made his VFL debut with the St Kilda Football Club in 1958 after being signed from Tasmania in 1953. He initially played on the half forward line, then later as a half back before playing with the Saints as a full back...
, described Hughes as having "Great ball skills, brilliant hand-eye coordination and a very, very reliable kick [...] And he showed courage. He went full throttle at the ball and didn't look for a second option." Howell told Hughes one evening at practice, "I believe you could go as far as you want in football." Hughes played at full forward for the under-21 team and mainly in the centre in the reserves. His brief football career was interrupted by injury—he broke his neck falling off a desk at teachers college—and eventually he advised Howell that he was "very much looking towards cricket" in future.
Hughes was aged 14 when he met Jenny Davidson, a fellow student at City Beach High School. The pair married in March 1977 and within four weeks Hughes left for a four month tour of England. In January 1981, Jenny gave birth to two twins, Sean and Simon. Another son, Bradley, followed four years later and a baby girl Claire in 1988. Kim's brother Glenn played first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
for Orange Free State
Orange Free State cricket team
The Free State cricket team is the first-class cricket team representing the province of Free State in South Africa....
and Tasmania
Tasmanian Tigers
The Tasmanian cricket team, nicknamed the Tigers, represents the Australian state of Tasmania in cricket tournaments. They compete annually in the Australian domestic senior men's cricket season, which currently consists of the first-class Sheffield Shield, the limited overs Ford Ranger Cup, and...
.
Since retirement Hughes has been chairman of selectors for the Western Australian Cricket Association
Western Australian Cricket Association
The Western Australian Cricket Association is the governing body for cricket in Western Australia.-History:The WACA was formed on 5 November 1885...
from 1999 to 2000 and more recently an occasional cricket commentator on ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
radio. A dining room at the WACA Ground is named the Kim Hughes Room.
Style and personality
Hughes batted with an orthodox upright, side-on stance. He gripped the bat high on the handle and played his strokes with a controlled backlift and a full follow through. He got his body well behind the ball in defence but early in his innings tended to move around the crease in front of his stumps, leaving him vulnerable to a leg before wicketLeg before wicket
In the sport of cricket, leg before wicket is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed. An umpire will rule a batsman out LBW under a series of circumstances which primarily include the ball striking the batsman's body when it would otherwise have continued on to hit the batsman's...
dismissal.
Hughes was widely considered by those who knew him as a likeable and friendly person; a person who wanted to be liked. He said of himself when appointed captain of Australia, "The one thing in my favour is that I will never change. I hope I will always be a likeable enough, easy-to-get-along-with type of person." His biographer noted, "[F]riends, team-mates, coaches, teachers, officials, close observers. Almost all mentioned Kim's niceness. He addresses people by their first name. He loves being around and encouraging children. He likes being people's best friend." As captain Hughes was popular and obliging with the press and the public. English journalist Frank Keating said "Pulled this way and that by photographers, fringers, high commissioners, low commisioners, book commissioners, and hall-porter commissioners, [Hughes] never stopped being softly obliging." The journalist Adrian McGregor said of Hughes, "He was almost too amenable, too nice a guy. He was great with the media, would answer all sorts of questions, never told people to piss off. [...] It was almost like he didn't have the appropriate personality [to be captain]."
Hughes projected a confident image on the field. "A pretty cocky little fella" was how one early opponent in club cricket described Hughes. This cockiness pleased some but others like Bruce Duperouzel
Bruce Duperouzel
Bruce Duperouzel is a former Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda and Footscray in the VFL.Duperouzel started his career at WANFL club Claremont, playing 86 games in his five seasons and winning their 1971 Fairest and best award...
, Hughes's captain in a Western Australian colts team, thought that Hughes had "an extravagance that pushed the bounds of acceptability."
Fond of noting that he was born on Australia Day
Australia Day
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia...
, Hughes was proudly Australian and keen to demonstrate this publicly. On his first tour to England, Hughes was often the only team member wearing the Australian team blazer
Blazer
A blazer is a type of jacket. The term blazer occasionally is synonymous with boating jacket and sports jacket, two different garments. A blazer resembles a suit coat cut more casually — sometimes with flap-less patch pockets and metal buttons. A blazer's cloth is usually durable , because it is an...
. Hughes claimed that "the greatest day of [his] life" was Australia II
Australia II
Australia II is the Australian 12-metre-class challenge racing yacht that was launched in 1982 and won the 1983 America's Cup for the Royal Perth Yacht Club...
s victory over the New York Yacht Club
New York Yacht Club
The New York Yacht Club is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. The organization has over 3,000 members as of 2011. ...
's entry in the 1983 America's Cup
1983 America's Cup
The 1983 America's Cup was the occasion of the first winning challenge to the New York Yacht Club who had successfully defended the cup over a period of 132 years...
yacht race; Hughes sat down with his twin sons, waved mini-Australian flags purchased especially for the event and watched a replay of the race twice more that day.
Hughes's nickname was "Claggy", a reference to the ubiquitous Clag
Clag (glue)
Clag is an Australian brand of glue made by Bostik.Although a range of glue products are today marketed by Bostik under the Clag name, the most recognised product is "Clag Paste", which is most commonly sold in iconic red 150-gram bottles that have been relatively unchanged for over thirty...
glue found in classrooms across Australia.
Test match performance
Key: *–not outNot out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
| Batting | Bowling | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition | Matches | Runs | Average | High Score | 100 / 50 | Runs | Wickets | Average | Best (Inns) |
| England | 22 | 1499 | 38.43 | 137 | 3/6 | – | – | – | – |
| India | 11 | 988 | 52.00 | 213 | 2/6 | – | – | – | – |
| New Zealand | 6 | 138 | 19.71 | 51 | 0/1 | – | – | – | – |
| Pakistan | 16 | 1016 | 40.64 | 106 | 2/7 | – | – | – | – |
| West Indies | 15 | 774 | 27.64 | 130* | 2/2 | – | – | – | – |
| Overall | 70 | 4415 | 37.41 | 213 | 9/22 | – | – | – | – |