THE Northern Tasmanian cricket community has joined the nation in paying tribute to Phillip Hughes.
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Before last night's Women's Twenty20 clash between the Tasmanian Roar and the Queensland Fire in Launceston, players from both sides observed an emotional 63 seconds' silence and wore black armbands in memory of Hughes.
Hughes, who played 26 Tests, 25 ODIs and one T20 for his country, died in a Sydney hospital on Thursday after being hit in the head by a short ball in a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG on Tuesday.
Hughes was on 63 not out when he was struck by the fatal ball.
The number 408, which was Hughes's Test playing number, was also painted on the Aurora Stadium surface for this weekend's three matches.
There will be similar observance ceremonies before this weekend's Greater Northern Cup and Cricket North matches, Cricket North administrator David Fry confirmed yesterday.
Fry said it would be up to individual grounds as to whether they painted 408 on their playing surface and up to the players whether they wore 408 on their playing shirts, another suggestion Cricket Australia yesterday put forward to grassroots cricket to pay tribute to Hughes.
Cricket Australia also suggested that batsmen in junior cricket retire at 63 rather than 50, however, that retirement figure is not in place in Cricket North matches, with batsmen either retiring at 30 or not having a retirement figure in under-age competitions.
Cricket North yesterday took part in the #putoutyourbats social media tribute to Hughes, which saw people post pictures just of their cricket bat.
The organisation had 63 bats on display, placed on the fence in front of the number 408 that had been painted on the NTCA No.1 Ground.
It is encouraging players to have their bats on display [when not in use] during this weekend's matches.
TCL players will also wear black armbands and observe 63 seconds' silence before all matches this weekend.