Cricket Legends - Kim Hughes

Robert 'Crash' Craddock speaks to former Australian captain Kim Hughes

[@rocknral]

One of the most humble blokes going around. Loved him as kid. Always wanted one of those beautiful Slazenger bats he used to swing.

[@briansukhu4392]

He has not just talent but humility and grace to not revisit controversies of his playing career he was treated very badly. He chooses not to re-visit the past.

[@andrewhahne5626]

Great man and Australian.

[@andrewruss2764]

The problem with kim hughes is that he was thrust into the captaincy by the ACB before he was ready. In my opinion Kim Hughes would have scored well over 10,000 test runs if he wasn't thrust into the captaincy so early in his career. The acb should be ashamed of themselves

[@eddiej9733]

My absolute favourite cricket player since I was a teen in the late 70’s. Seeing how he has conducted himself since his heartfelt resignation has taken his standing to the highest levels as a human.

[@kymcha]

Kim Hughes, given his natural skills, should have been mentored by the senior players for 6-7 years before taking on the captain's leadership role.

[@vantheman1238]

Kim Hughes had everything in terms of talent to be a true Australian great. Kim was an incredibly talented batsman.

[@roshanariyaratnam8225]

Unfortunately given the nature of how his career ended, his batting prowess is overlooked. He’d have a good case for being Australia’s most underrated batsmen along with Damien Martyn. There’s a Ian Chappell espncricinfo interview where he states that Kim Hughes ‘was a damn fine batsmen, and that’s often forgotten’. Chappelli being straight talking former Australian captain that he is, gives a blunt assessment of Hughes captaincy credentials but very strongly states the case for his batsmanship, in no uncertain terms. It’s a shame his career came to an end prior to statistically the best run scoring years for a batsmen early 30s…..

[@vantheman1238]

@@roshanariyaratnam8225 agreed. Kim Hughes greatest crime was accepting the captaincy of the Australian team. Rod Marsh should have been made captain.

[@VVS167]

@@roshanariyaratnam8225 Roger that🌹

[@coalfacechris1336]

@@vantheman1238 Agreed, but Marsh and Lillee white-anting the Hughes and disrespecting him as Australian captain wasn't any less of a crime.

[@juanestadian8471]

@@roshanariyaratnam8225 chappell knows that now?. he took potshots at hughes at almost every opportunity. simply because rod marsh didn't get the captaincy. yes hughes was tactically naïve but its not his fault he was appointed. I remember Joel Garner writing how it hurt the WI pacemen to target Hughes because the entire drama played out very much in the public eye

[@stevet9938]

Always liked Kim Hughes and I like him even more after watching this. He was in an impossible position and did the best he could, I doubt anyone could have done better given all the circumstances.... but more importantly the man has kept his dignity.

[@WaynesWorld69]

I always felt so sorry for him when he resigned...purely because WI were absolutely thrashing everyone. Didn't know about what was going on in the background which makes it even more emotional to see his resignation.

[@thadtuiol1717]

Ditto! I remember as a 12-year old wondering why he had to resign - After all, the West Indies had 'blackwashed' England 5-0 the previous summer in England, so Oz losing 3-0 to them was hardly the worst thing in the world! I didn't know all the other political stuff at the time, especially the behaviour of certain other senior players.

[@patramamurthy]

Recall seeing him get a blinding good ton in Cheapauk at Chennai in September 79' ( madras then!) In 1979..read lots about his fabled ton at MCG in boxing day game of 1981 on a nasty pitch still reckoned as one of the best ever vs WI fearsome foursome by several critics! His twinkle toed footwork ( ala quicksilver) double ton vs India in early 81 that coincided with the birth of his twins was another inning that stuck in memory.

[@raajac2720]

I am Indian,but I am always searching Kim details,when I saw few videos,how he is good batsman. His every shorts fascinating to everyone. He is definitely good batsman material. Unfortunately few Aussie are not supported him in his captains term. I wish my favourite cricketer long live.

[@kenfragnicholl-sh6so]

Kim what player and thanks for coming to South Africa with your jolly band

[@kenclayton5088]

His batting in 1980 centenary test in england was the best i have seen by an australian player.....non support and shafting by certain seniors was awful

[@scoldedcat]

Kim was great guy, dealt a bad hand. Fantastic batsman, as well.

[@andrewmaroc113]

fancy Greg Chappell saying Kim wasn't a great batsman - he played more delightful innings than either of the Chappell brothers could have dreamed of.

[@colincorn8678]

Tend to agree with Greg.When he came to SA we were expecting great things,but i think he was bang average

[@dannymiller7880]

One of Australia's greatest stroke makers,,a sheer talent cut short He speaks so well and what a humble guy

[@jejona6989]

Deadset bullying of the worst kind by Marsh, Lillee & the Chappel brothers, who were all great players, but all have form with this type of thing. Kim Hughes is smart enough to know that if he writes a book and tells the truth about what happened, he would receive more of the same from this group.

[@ravirathi1753]

Look at the pain and sadness on his face!

[@sadiqfazal2514]

He was a very exciting batsman. He liked the challenge from world's best bowlers and succeeded most of the times. He was unlucky to lose Ashes series of 1981 otherwise it would have boosted his career

[@rambhattacharjee1850]

A suoerb Batsman and Superb Captain Kim Hughes

[@lcthen1690]

Kim, listening to you, I see your passion. You are so authentic and have a big heart. You were perceived as soft and people bullied you but you are a very deep thinking person, not so simple as what the outside people thought. Your spirit of confronting adversities and letting go of negativity is dmirable and what I can learn from.

[@sentimentalbloke185]

Much of the angst toward Hughes was a product of WA cricket politics: the WA players saw Marsh (& Lillee) as leaders of the team when they resumed post-WSC but the WA administrators backed Hughes as captain. The undermining of his authority by certain players was a dark chapter in Aus cricket, a period when the performance of the team was very ordinary.

[@roshanariyaratnam8225]

I read recently of his battle with alcohol and this is something he has successfully dealt with. One hopes he isn’t still dealing with the demons of those days.

[@sentimentalbloke185]

@@roshanariyaratnam8225 Possibly. It's a bit sad/strange that he won't write a book. It might help if Lillee came out & showed some contrition for the way he treated Hughes. But Hughes was no shrinking violet & could be erratic to deal with.

[@garydobson6336]

He did write a book. It’s called Golden Boy. He talks about it. Seems like he has forgiven them publicly. But I think behind the gracious facade he still feels he was unfairly treated by senior players. This remains a stain on those players at the time. Not the other way around. In all probability lead to the problems that he has encountered to date away from the game. He has my greatest respect. So unfairly treated by all at the time.

[@sentimentalbloke185]

@@garydobson6336 Golden Boy was written by Christian Ryan & Hughes refused to co-operate with him, as did many of Hughes's teammates back then including Marsh & Lillee. Hughes has never written a book about his career.

[@nickwhite4538]

@@garydobson6336 agree Gary. Definitely linked I think. I have Christian Ryan’s book, it’s awesome.

[@charlesmartella]

Used to watch him play shield and tests at the WACA . say what you want about him but oh to see him drive in full flight was something else .

[@mrmockatoo6786]

Great days...he was fun to watch in full flight.

[@ramsha2000]

Despite having been thru so much, Kim opted to keep his grace by not writing about the conspiracies against him.

[@raajac2720]

Incredible stroke maker,his test match playing style will good as one day matches.

[@Steve50663]

DK and Rod Marsh we’re pricks to Kim Hughes it seems. They treated AB well.

[@absoluteb22]

A great player that was thrown to the wolves particularly by teammates. Stats don't always tell the truth. He's in my favourite Aussie 11 for sure!

[@willyw9379]

Kim resigned shortly after I started watching cricket as a young boy. My dad always told me Kim was a great player who was treated poorly by Cricket Australia and worse still, by many senior players on the team, and that affected his performances with the bat.

[@thadtuiol1717]

Love that photo @7:08 of Kim Hughes, Rod Marsh, and Geoff Boycott!

[@prob6820]

I was always curious as to why when the rebel tour was revealed and Packer was paying players stay loyal to Australian cricket, why Hughes wasn't part of that deal. I think the board (very much under the influence of Packer and possibly to a lesser extent Chappelli who had Packer's ear) helped to kill Hughes career as captain. If you are in a rebuilding stage, why would you as a board, agree to play the WI at home, and then play them 6 months later at home? Money at the expense of your players careers?

[@sentimentalbloke185]

The players were selected, mostly, on potential. Hughes was considered to be past his best & some wanted him out of cricket altogether.

[@pierpaoloparisi2049]

“But if I’d gone home to my mother, and father, and said, 'I’m now going to play because someone’s offered me money, you didn’t play for Australia for money, and you don’t play for Australia now because of money, although they do get very, very well paid, I wouldn’t have been able to look at my parents in the face' " (10:40). This is the attitude any supporter wants from his or her national team representatives, in any sport. Honour transcends ethnicities and sporting disciplines. Kim Hughes was a patriot, from the essence of Australia, as he said, "a young boy born and bred in the bush" (16:05). He was outfoxed by those more street smart. The first ever day of cricket I watched, as a child, was when he scored 100*, at the MCG and the day ended with the WI at 4-10. He calls it "one of the greatest days of cricket ever played in Australia"(21:10). It was astonishing.

[@odetteswann7694]

The biggest misfortune Kim had was to have come along a couple of years before AB. Because otherwise, they could have made Border captain first, and their roles, and ultimately their career paths, could easily have been reversed.

[@daveb3987]

Feel sorry for him. It’s so clear listening to him that he’s still very much on edge about it all, and by dismissing and downplaying the issues is simply his way of trying to not let it all defeat him. We don’t know all the issues or reasons why they bullied him but he was clearly bullied. Making him captain was wrong… not giving him support was wrong too.

[@Madhawkssupporter]

Kim Hughes is a great batsman look fancy greg chappell saying he wasn't a great batsmen but greg didn't score a century against the west indies on a horrible track and didn't go to either England or India and ian chappell just whingers about everyone and he shouldn't of criticised Kim's captains cause hin and greg abandoned Australian cricket and so did Dennis and rod and left AB and kim to stand up to a fearsome west indies team

[@saganspirit]

07:44 are they actually in the same room together?!

[@darrenwilliams4938]

If he wasn't a great batter, he had to of been the next best thing.

[@chrispetritsch1291]

Richie Robinson was a better bat than Marsh and arguably as good a 'keeper. He certainly wasn't an opener but he'd made so many runs that they had to play him as a batsman. He was never going to replace Marsh.

[@jugheadsrule]

No way was he a better bat than Marsh

[@nickvegas2459]

Hmm. Dennis and co. have a lot to answer for.

[@jackdanielss]

Cricket Australia did him dirty

[@user-vx6tw3bh4f]

The 1981 Ashes Test series, was lost directly by Greg Chappell, deciding he was not going tour! Ian Chappell should not have retired in 1980, he should have went on the 1981, Ashes tour, and retired after it! Len Pascoe was injured! Not picking express fast bowlers Jeff Thomson, Gary Gilmour, Batsmen Doug Walters, David Hookes, Bruce Laird, Rick McCosker! Not picking swing medium pace Bowler Max Walker, and spinner Bruce Yardley! Australia would have won very easily, if these players were selected and played!

[@wespaul9345]

Bruce Laird definitely

[@maxmirni2768]

and yardley - 82/83 cricketer of the year

[@Battismore-Blue]

Do Western Australians tend to stick together?

[@kittykatwolf8294]

He was a Tosser! Worse Captain ever.

[@dennispicone6801]

It never helps if and when the team you are captaining, don't want to help you. Remember, he was appointed. He definitely didn't ask for it, especially since he was so young.

[@Madhawkssupporter]

I like Kim Hughes he is legend and he would of been even more of a great batsman and captain if not been chucked into the captaincy so early

[@dannymiller7880]

You have no idea 🤣🤣

[@reimannx33]

Kim hughes is not a legend.

[@allowah6]

And you’re irrelevant you faceless prick.

[@reimannx33]

@@allowah6 Relevent enough to easily "prick" your low IQ reptilian brain going off on a tantrum.

[@allowah6]

@@reimannx33 low IQ? Funny coming from a Neanderthal who cannot produce a coherent sentence 😂😂. Have you ever heard of grammar, Mr faceless prick?

[@reimannx33]

Your low IQ reptilian brain has predictably responded with tantrum yet again after being easily "pricked." Now, slither back to the sewer. There you go - Fluuuusssshhhed and blocked. Hahahahahahahaha....

[@allowah6]

@@reimannx33 good that you know your name, Mr Faceless Prick. You keep on replying…… 😂😂😂