The sound of the ball racing from David Warner’s bat indicated it was a stroke of the sweetest timing, the echo of it distinct because those in attendance at Adelaide Oval were holding their breath, barely able to look for fear as to what might happen.

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The delivery from Indian fast bowler Varun Aaron boomed off Warner’s bat and through the covers before cannoning into the fence.

The tension had been unbearable for days, from the MCG to Macksville, from kids in schoolyards to those governing the country, from those wearing the whites at the SCG on that awful day to those watching on the western coast of the country and further afield.

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Bats by their thousands, some brand new and others worn down by the red bruises of cricket balls thudding into the middle and weathering away at the edges, had been rested on front doors by the disbelieving and the desolate in the days preceding this moment.

The boundary did not signal an end to the angst but the crowd and, perhaps, the batsman who scored it finally breathed. Warner was away in this innings.

Life, as it does, would move on. But even now, a decade after the death of his good friend and Australian teammate Phillip Hughes, a part of Warner will never feel free of the tragedy.

“When that first ball came down, it was almost like, ‘You know what? I don’t care what happens to me today. I’m doing this for my mate. And this whole game, this whole series, is about our mate,’” Warner told Fox Cricket during a chat at the MCG earlier this month.

“We just knew that he was sort of looking over us, (standing) up the other end with a cheeky smile, and calling us ‘bruz’, (and) saying ‘It’s going to be okay’.

“We sort of forgot about cricket. It just was like, ‘We’re out there playing, playing a game with a bunch of friends in the park’. And (from there it) sort of just kept flowing. It was crazy. The emotions were so raw at the time. (And) as a group, we sort of sat back and reflected on Phil and the memories of Phil (and) it was like the game didn’t take place.

“These are some of the days that I look back on, now that I (have) finished my career, and go, ‘You know what, could I have done anything differently? Could I have celebrated a bit more? Could I have cherished that moment more?’

“Now, (just) thinking about that, it just sort of brings a bit of a tear to my eye now, especially (now that) it’s 10 years on. He is never forgotten, absolutely never forgotten. It doesn’t matter what game I’m playing, (he is) still with me out there. And I know the guys that are still playing today, they say the same thing. It was just an absolute tragedy and we miss him. We absolutely miss him.”

FOREVER 63 NOT OUT

It is now a decade since Hughes, the 408th Australian to earn a prized ‘Baggy Green’ cap, was killed playing the sport that he loved. But the memories of what made him a special person live on in those who loved him.

A superb batter who appeared to have his life ahead of him, Hughes was a much-loved son and friend and a cherished teammate of so many, a farm boy with the dress sense of a city slicker. And he could bat. Boy, could he bat. Even in his final innings, he was flying.

The Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales, the home state of Hughes, and South Australia, the adopted state where he had excelled to the brink of earning an Australian recall, being played at the SCG ended abruptly on November 25, 2014.

The ESPN ball-by-ball commentary of the final delivery is shocking in its brevity. On the third ball of the 48th over, it reads; ‘Abbott to Hughes, no run.’ It ends there. Hughes had been struck in the head on 63 not out on the saddest day in Australia’s cricket history.

When Australia and India reconvene for the second Test of this series at Adelaide Oval on December 6, it will be almost 10 years since Warner, Steve Smith, Michael Clarke and Nathan Lyon, and the Indian champion Virat Kohli who had admired Hughes from their first meeting at a camp in 2008, performed starring roles in surreal circumstances.

Considering the backdrop to the Test brings stress to the tear ducts of many even now, it makes the performances in that match even more remarkable given the awful context.

Just under two weeks prior, Warner had held Hughes’ hand as he was stretchered from the SCG on a medivac as friends including Tom Cooper, who was batting alongside Hughes, wrestled with the gravity of what was unfolding in the middle of the famous ground.

Clarke, the Australian captain, was in the shower at home when the phone rang, lamenting a hamstring injury as the latest betrayal from a body that was breaking down.

Australian coach Darren Lehmann was at Allan Border Oval in Brisbane, pondering how to tell Chris Rogers he was about to be replaced in the Test team by Hughes for the first Test against India at the Gabba.

Australian doctor John Orchard was on hand at the SCG and offered an immediate calming presence to the panic, despite the catastrophe. The Indians were in Adelaide preparing for a warm-up clash against an Australia A side. And around the country in the age of social media, cricket fans held their breath and hoped with all their might that Hughes would pull through.

The vision of young athletes in their prime, distraught and dreading the worst as they arrived at the hospital helping Hughes in his final moments, has sent a shudder down the spine of so many Australians in the hours and days after he was felled at the SCG.

“I was a selector, actually, when unfortunately Phillip Hughes passed away,” Mark Waugh told Fox Cricket.

“I was at the game and we were definitely talking about Phillip Hughes getting back into the Test side. He was at the forefront.

“Obviously the cricket is one side of it … to lose Phillip in those circumstances, who was a great teammate of so many people, and a great human being, it was pretty emotional for a lot of players in that match and leading up to that Test match.”

In the immediate aftermath, the opening Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Brisbane was postponed and switched to Adelaide to allow participants a small window to grieve their friend and to attend his funeral in Macksville, on the Nambucca River in NSW.

At a gathering featuring cricket dignitaries from Australia and around the world, Clarke spoke with tenderness about his mate’s precocious talents at the crease and when it came to forging bonds with his friends, about his legacy and what should have been ahead of him.

He had been with the Hughes family when his mate’s life support system was shut down and said the loss had a profound impact on his own approach to life.

“Losing Phillip at such a young age is a big part of my life,” Clarke told Code Sports recently.

“I cherish my life a lot more now than I ever did. I enjoy my journey a lot more now than I ever did as a youngster. I look back now and wish when I played for Australia that I was more like this. That I stopped to smell the roses and realise it could be over tomorrow.”

Phillip Hughes played 26 Tests for Australia and scored 1535 runs, with three centuries and seven 50s. He was 25-years-old when he died on November 27. And he was 63 not out.

A COLLECTIVE MOURNING AS THE WORLD LAYS OUT THEIR BATS

Prominent Indian broadcaster Harsha Bhogle said his nation’s cricket champions including Kohli and former coach Ravi Shastri were determined to respect the legacy of a talent who was taken from the crease just as he was settling in.

Having worked at the Perth Test over the past week alongside men who were at the SCG that day, and with those who attended Hughes’s funeral near Coffs Harbour, the Fox Cricket commentator has no doubt the anniversary will prompt strong emotions among many.

Bhogle recalled former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum, who is now England’s coach, talking about how the loss of Hughes had changed his approach to cricket a year after the tragedy.

The New Zealand team were in Sharjah for a series against Pakistan and abandoned the second day of a Test when the news broke of the tragedy.

“This anniversary will be remembered with sadness. It will be remembered with the awareness of what can happen tomorrow, that life is so fleeting,” Bhogle told Fox Cricket’s The Follow On podcast.

“I think it changed a lot of people. It changed, for example, the view of Brendon McCullum who was playing a Test far away in Sharjah, and he said, ‘What is life about? What is pressure? I think we play cricket to enjoy ourselves.’

“I can imagine it probably affected people here more, but our cricket community — for all the divisions within our ranks and for all the fandom where we stand against each other — we are actually one giant community and when something happens, everyone is there for everybody else. The outpouring of grief and the affectionate love was from all over the world. And it was not just in traditional countries.

“You remember the photographs of people putting their bats out? They were unconnected people just feeling like saying that one of us has moved on, and we want to show our affection. In grief we saw beauty and we saw, shorn of everything else, that we are one giant community.

“It should not happen. But in India we tend to be a little more fatalistic and say, “if it is in your stars …’. What a pity. He was a young kid happy and in the prime of his life. What did he want to do more than anything else, apart from maybe building a farm? It was to play cricket.”

Former England captain Michael Vaughan was watching at home and remembers reeling with shock that such a tragedy could unfold in a game of cricket.

“It was an emotional time for the game to lose such a promising young player in extraordinary circumstances,” he said.

“I guess it was one of those times — I was back home in the UK — and the whole world was watching to see how Australia reacted to this extraordinary circumstance. And they reacted … in an amazing way.

“It was the best kind of tribute to their teammate, to go out there and play so well themselves, and to raise the bat and to get Australia a victory.”

THE GREATS RAISE THEIR BATS TO A HEAVENLY PAVILLION

One century after another in Adelaide, the greats of the game kissed the national crests on their helmets and cast their eyes and bats skyward, acknowledging their lost mate.

Given the emotional backdrop, the first Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy series in 2014 was always going to be extraordinary, regardless of what unfolded at Adelaide Oval.

What did arise was an outstanding match in which the world’s best cricketers rose to the occasion in a memorable tribute to a friend who should have been on the oval with them.

Warner and many others had wrestled with whether they should play after arriving in Adelaide.

Given the circumstances, the Aussies trained behind closed doors but Warner was among those who managed only a couple of balls before opting out of the nets.

“Thinking back to the days leading into that, there was a lot of anxiousness, more along the lines of, ‘Should I be taking the field? As a team, should we be taking the field?’” he said.

“There were a lot of thoughts going through … our heads. We sat down with our psychologist (Dr Michael Lloyd) and each individual had their time with them and sort of spoke about the life of Phil.

“We were trying out coping mechanisms to sort of be able to get back out on the field and get back in the middle training. I did try and go in the day before, and I just walked straight back out and didn’t feel like I wanted to be there.”

Prior to batting, a commemoration of Hughes’s life voiced by Richie Benaud was played at Adelaide Oval, with the 20,000 in attendance then observing 63 seconds of silence. How players retained their focus remains a phenomenon.

After Chris Rogers batted out a maiden opening over, Warner took strike. He breathed. And then he belted Aaron for four. On the fourth ball he faced he did that same, so too the sixth.

He smashed another three fours in the next over as well. Warner did not know if he wanted to be there and can’t recall some moments. But those watching will never forget his innings, from its audacity to its brutality and ultimately its brilliance.

Having avoided the first bouncer bowled at him — the delivery of which drew a gasp from the crowd — Warner rattled off a 50. Then he reached 63 not out with a sweep around the corner.

On doing so, he lifted his eyes to the sky and then followed suit with his bat. Everyone watching realised the symbolism. This one’s for you, mate. You’ll never be forgotten.

He then dropped to his haunches and took some deep breaths as his captain Clarke consoled him.

Later in the second session, Warner brought up an exceptional century by punching a half-volley from Karn Sharma and leapt into the air. But there was no delight in the celebration, for a look of grief was etched across his face. Warner eventually fell for 145 from 162 balls.

Clarke somehow reached a half-century before his body seized up and he was forced to retire hurt on 60. That brought Steve Smith to the crease and he, too, batted brilliantly.

Smith, too, reached 63 not out and raised his bat in tribute and was 72 not out at stumps as Mohammed Shami, who could feature in this series, wreaked late havoc.

On the second day, both Smith and Clarke — somehow he made his way back to the crease — recorded memorable centuries as well before Australia declared at 7-517.

“To think that just a short while after his death, his teammates were able to go out there and play (is incredible),” Vaughan said in a recent chat in Melbourne.

“I mean, David Warner, who was so close to Philip Hughes, for him to go and play the way that he did, and then for Steve Smith to do a similar thing, and then Michael Clarke, who shouldn’t have played, he goes out (and stars), they were all (tributes from his) New South Wales teammates.”

Australian great Adam Gilchrist watched the Adelaide Test from home in Western Australia and described it as one of the finest team innings he has witnessed.

“I wasn’t broadcasting at the time and I just felt, like everyone else, it was such a mixture of emotions,” he said.

“I … didn’t know Hughesy as well as the current crop of players at that time, but to watch them, to have been to the funeral, to have seen the Indian team turn up at the funeral, (there was) so much emotion around for everybody, for the cricketing world. We were still in mourning.

“But what a way to, I guess, to move from mourning into almost a celebration of a life and of a personality. The way that those players expressed themselves, firstly, and dedicated themselves to go out there and perform at the highest level, to perform to the best of their capabilities, it was intriguing and beautiful to watch.”

KING KOHLI OFFERS HIS OWN SALUTE

On the flat Adelaide pitch that had been tamed by Australia’s top-order, India set about its pursuit purposefully.

Shikhar Dhawan rattled off a rapid 25 before being bowled by Ryan Harris. The score was beyond 100 when fellow opener Murali Vijay exited for 53.

Cheteshwar Pujara (73), Ajinkya Rahane (63) and current skipper Rohit Sharma (43) handled the conditions superbly as well.

But it was Kohli who, as he did in the First Test of the current series in Perth, delivered for his nation while also posting a tribute of his own to Hughes with a fine century.

“I think after attending the funeral, I was emotional and taken aback by the incident, because Phil was one of the guys I used to interact with when he used to come on tours and even when I was in Australia,” Kohli said at the time.

“I was in a camp with him in 2008 at Brisbane and I was always closer to him than most of the guys. It was an equally saddening and emotional moment for me, but as professional cricketers you have to move on and do what needs to be done.”

With Nathan Lyon bowling superbly, the Australians bowled India out for 444 on the fourth day, from which a result seemed improbable.

A TORRENT OF EMOTION UNLEASHED

When he went out to bat on the fourth day, Warner delivered again, making the most of a reprieve after being bowled off a no-ball from Aaron in the 34th over.

It sparked a confrontation between the pair, with Warner returning fire with a ‘c’mon’ of his own after the Indian paceman’s vigorous celebration. Shane Watson and Dhawan also clashed while Smith and Sharma exchanged harsh words later in the day.

Warner, who later conceded he had gone too far, said the emotions of the time and memories of past rivalries surfaced after a torrid period.

“The world knows how I like to get involved and play my cricket. I try to take it to them and if I have to have a bit of verbal I will. Sometimes I do cross that line and I’ve got to try not to,” he said at the time.

“You build that adrenaline up and for him to bowl that no ball ball and for me to come back in and go in on him a little bit … I shouldn’t have but it got me into another contest.

“I had to regroup and start again from there. That’s what happens in cricket. You’ve got to keep riding that roller coaster as much as you can.”

When reflecting on the tension a decade later, Warner told foxsports.com.au there was “a lot of feistiness out there”.

“I sort of got a cheeky — not a cheeky send off — but he said something, and I saw there was a no-ball, and I sort of came back on and, as I normally do, I just gave it a ‘Come on’”, Warner said.

“I was like, ‘I want a cheeky (century) here.’ And it sort of livened it up a little bit.”

The pugnacious opener reached his second century for the match and later Smith, who carried his bat in both innings, and Mitch Marsh scored rapidly to enable Clarke to make a daring declaration at 5-290, setting India a target of 364 with a day to play.

It set the stage for an enthralling finale that elevated this match, already exceptional given the situation, to a place among the greatest Tests played.

INDIA’S LION CHALLENGES BUT THE AUSTRALIAN LYON REIGNS SUPREME

As Murali Vijay and Virat Kohli swatted the Australian attack from one side of the wicket to the other with the frequency with which they were shooing away Adelaide’s flies, the most improbable of results looked possible. Surely India could not poach a win against the odds?

In an astonishing partnership, the Indian opener and his iconic partner compiled 45 runs in 40 overs to take India to 3-242, requiring another 125 runs with just over 20 overs remaining. Not surprisingly, Warner was feeling nervous, as were his teammates.

But they had also endured a scare that came too soon for many.

With India at 2-111, Mitch Johnson delivered a thunderbolt that struck Kohli on the helmet. The crowd stood silent as the Aussies ran from everywhere to check on their rival. It was the heat of the battle, but they needed no reminding of what mattered more.

Thankfully, Kohli was able to regain his composure. It has been surmised Johnson was more affected. But the crowd exhaled and the game rolled on, with Kohli again supreme.

It was here the Lyon, despite the exhaustion of rolling in over after over after over in warm conditions, produced a masterclass of off-spin.

After denying Vijay a century when trapping him LBW for 99, he struck again in the 69th over to remove Rahane for a duck. But Kohli kept up the pursuit, knocking off another 25 runs until Lyon was able to snare Sharma for six in the 78th over.

That effectively ended India’s hopes but Australia still needed five wickets. When Marsh took a difficult catch in the outer, off the bowling of Lyon, to snare Kohli for a magnificent 141 in the 82nd over, victory was within reach.

“It was a typical Mitch Marsh (catch). He got down low and caught the catch (with his hands up),” Warner said.

“At that time, the sun was actually in his eyes and I think I just stood there and watched the ball, and I’m there looking and going, ‘Catch this. Catch this. Catch this.’ And … you couldn’t really see if he had caught it or not.

“But (then we saw) him standing up and running and charging. And the boys were just ecstatic and all running straight towards him and charging. And that was a turning point of the game.

“Gazza was bowling — I don’t know how many overs straight that he bowled — but he was tired. He was absolutely cooked that night, that evening. But … with Virat Kohli, to get that wicket, it was just the moment in the game, the cherry on top, the icing on the cake. It was awesome.”

Harris and Mitchell Johnson knocked over a couple of tailenders before Lyon, blowing his 35th over of the day and 71st for the match, had Ishant Sharma stumped by Brad Haddin to secure a 49-run victory for Australia with less than three overs to spare.

Lyon, who took 7-152 in the second innings on an oval where he used to cut the grass, was named Man of the Match in a Test where so many stars stood tall.

“There were a lot of articles (criticising) Gazza at the time, which was unfair,” Warner said.

“But to his credit, he kept on coming in and churning and churning, and just kept trying to spin that ball. And true to Gary’s character, Gazza’s character, he kept showing up, facing up, and playing the game.”

AS A TRIBUTE AFTER A TRAGEDY, THE CHAMPIONS DELIVERED ‘CRICKET AT ITS FINEST’

As Mark Waugh noted, Michael Clarke had so many reasons not to play the match, but his boldness as captain created an extraordinary match.

“I think there might have been five hundreds in that Test match and the standard of cricket was amazing,” Waugh said.

“The players somehow got through it. The Australian players, a lot of those players, were very close to Phillip Hughes, but they got through it and made some great contributions.

“And I think in the end, Michael Clarke made a bold declaration in that Test match. It looked like it was going to be a draw because there were so many runs scored on a flat pitch and in the end, Australia won that Test match.

“Obviously, you know, there’s some great cricket played, but obviously the backdrop was Phillip’s passing. He certainly won’t ever be forgotten.”

In an interview with Code Sports, Australia’s coach Lehmann said the courage shown throughout the five days was above and beyond.

“The emotion. Blokes going off at lunch time crying. At the end of the day, (it was) really quiet (in the) change rooms. (We sat around) just thinking about it,” he said.

“India were great, and the match referee was great, because there were some blokes who went off the field at different times, who just needed a break.

“We had a little shrine in the corner for him. And all those little moments throughout the game, where blokes made hundreds or stood on the 408 sign or (with) David Warner kissing the pitch on 63, things like that resonated emotionally with everyone. It was a very sombre time.

“You can only imagine what we were going through, but times that by 100 or 1000 for the family. Somehow we got a result and relief at the end of the Test match. We got through it, somehow.”

The result, Gilchrist said, was fitting. And the manner with which both teams played the Test was both the ultimate triumph for cricket and tribute to Hughes.

“I felt both teams just carried themselves to the highest level of integrity and respect and (there was) some amazing cricket too,” Gilchrist told Fox Cricket.

“I think Hughesy, he would have just been stunned by it all. I think it’s a beautiful memory, that game and all the imagery around it, and the fellowship of two teams celebrating a young man … I think it was cricket at its finest.”