If a textbook technique was the sole criterion for a first-class opener then Phillip Hughes would be out of a job. But then, the same could have been said of the shuffling Simon Katich. The most important thing as far as Australia's selectors are concerned is that Hughes picks up plenty of runs from his country-baked technique, which includes compulsive slicing through point and slashing to cover, as well as stepping away to provide room for tennis-style drives down the ground. His perceived weakness against the short ball helped him in South Africa in 2009, when he used the pace of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel against them and he was the youngest man to score a century in each innings of a Test when he managed the feat in Durban in his second Test. But after his stunning rise as the replacement for the retired Matthew Hayden, the fall was swift; after he was roughed up by Andrew Flintoff and failed at Lord's he broke the news of his dropping on Twitter. He remained the Test backup opener and in Wellington in 2010 he finished off the win with a brutal 86 off 75 balls. He replaced the injured Katich for three Tests of the 2010-11 Ashes and despite struggling, he finished the Shield season strongly and was first in line to become Shane Watson's full-time partner when Katich lost his contract. The Australians needed Hughes to live up to the promise he'd shown when at 19 he became the youngest to score a century in a Pura Cup final. He had debuted for his state at 18, after moving to Sydney from northern New South Wales, where he grew up on a banana farm.
Brydon Coverdale August 2011