90 Facts About Kim Hughes

Kimberley John Hughes was born on 26 January 1954 and is a former cricketer who played for Western Australia, Natal and Australia.

Kim Hughes captained Australia in 28 Test matches between 1979 and 1984 before captaining a rebel Australian team in a tour of South Africa, a country which at the time was subject to a sporting boycott opposing apartheid.

Kim Hughes was identified as a potential Test cricketer from an early age, but his impetuous style of batting, and personality clashes with influential teammates and opponents such as Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh, saw a later introduction to first-class and Test cricket than anticipated.

Kim Hughes finished his career playing cricket in South Africa.

Kim Hughes was born on 26 January 1954, at Margaret River, Western Australia, the first child of father Stan, a school teacher, and mother Ruth.

The Kim Hughes family lived in nearby Kudardup, where Stan was in charge of the one-teacher school.

The Kim Hughes family settled in the Geraldton suburb of Wonthella and Kim Hughes attended the local Allendale Primary School, where his father was the headmaster.

In Geraldton, the young Kim Hughes played a variety of sports, including hockey, tennis and especially Australian rules football.

Kim Hughes's first organised cricket was as an 11-year old, filling in for the Bluff Point Cricket Club under-16 side.

Kim Hughes was selected in the Geraldton Country Week team again the following year.

Kim Hughes attended City Beach High School and played cricket for the Floreat Park Under-16 side.

The next season, aged 15, Kim Hughes made his first grade debut for Subiaco-Floreat Cricket Club, captained by former Test player Des Hoare; Kim Hughes made 36 runs.

In January 1970, Kim Hughes was selected to play for Western Australia in the national under-19 carnival.

Kim Hughes was unable to break out of the slump for the next two seasons, finding himself out of the state squad.

Kim Hughes 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, Kim Hughes left for Adelaide mid-season to try his luck at gaining selection for South Australia, whose batting was not as strong.

Kim Hughes 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.

Kim Hughes finally broke into the Western Australian team in November 1975, making his first-class debut against New South Wales at the WACA Ground.

Kim Hughes was dismissed for 119, ending a partnership of 205 runs with Rob Langer.

Kim Hughes was the fifth Western Australian batsman to make a century on first-class debut for the state.

Later that season, Kim Hughes scored a second century, against Clive Lloyd's touring West Indians.

Missing the rest of the Pakistan matches, Kim Hughes was included in the Australian team to tour New Zealand.

Kim Hughes, again suffering from homesickness, did not play in either of the two Tests.

Four weeks after marrying his girlfriend, Kim Hughes left for England as a member of the 1977 Australian team.

Kim Hughes told a reporter congratulating him about his upcoming Test debut "Those pricks, know they have made me part of their failure".

World Series Cricket divided the Australian team into two camps; those who had signed lucrative contracts with Kerry Packer's rebel group and those, like Kim Hughes, who had remained with the establishment Australian Cricket Board.

Kim 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; Kim Hughes was a notable omission.

In September 1977, Kim Hughes made clear his attachment to traditional cricket in a statement.

Kim 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 he was named as twelfth man.

Kim 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.

Kim Hughes was omitted for the third Test in Melbourne, but returned for the fourth Test in Sydney.

At the Sydney Cricket Ground Kim Hughes made 17 and 19, with Bishan Bedi dismissing him on both occasions.

Again, Kim Hughes was left out of the Australian team; at this stage he had not played two Test matches consecutively.

Kim Hughes travelled to the Caribbean as a member of the Australian cricket team to play the West Indies in 1978.

The wound became infected and Kim Hughes had to beg team management to be allowed to remain on the tour.

Yallop and Kim Hughes scored 170 runs in partnership before Yallop was dismissed for 102.

Kim Hughes continued on and was the last Australian wicket to fall, top-scoring with 129, his maiden Test century.

Kim Hughes, playing only his eleventh Test, was named as Australian captain; the first Western Australian to lead the national team.

Kim 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, Kim Hughes rolled his ankle and was not able to take his place in the field.

Kim 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".

However, Wisden had praise for Kim Hughes, remarking that there "was a marked development in Kim Hughes's technique of playing spin bowling" and that "the heavy burden of captaincy had no adverse effect on his batting".

Kim Hughes was my first hero in Test cricket, a batsman who, when he was on, was unstoppable.

Kim 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.

Kim Hughes hit 18 boundaries that innings, 10 of them from the hook shot.

The next Test, against England in Perth, Kim Hughes was out one run short of his century, attempting to hit Derek Underwood out of the ground.

The Test was drawn and Kim Hughes was given the Man of the Match award, having batted on each of the five days of the match.

Australia won the low scoring and rain affected match by six wickets, after Kim Hughes had taken the opportunity to put England into bat after winning the toss.

Kim Hughes' Australians had the better of the early part of the match.

Batting first, Australia made 401 runs; with Kim Hughes contributing 89 of them.

Kim Hughes started the series with a century in the first Test in Perth and finished the series having scored 193 runs overall.

Kim Hughes' remaining batting partner, Alderman, was a poor batsman; it had taken him nine matches to make his first first-class run.

In three Tests, Kim Hughes scored only 29 runs on tour in New Zealand in March 1982.

All members of the touring squad suffered from illness at one stage and at one stage Kim Hughes threatened to take his team back to Australia after several Australian fielders were hit by projectiles thrown from the stands.

Kim Hughes scored 469 runs against the English at an average of 67.00.

Not long after the match, Chappell relinquished his position as Australian captain; Kim Hughes was now captain of a full-strength Australian team for the first time.

Kim Hughes' team was embarrassed by a loss in their first match against Zimbabwe, at the time a mainly amateur side.

Kim Hughes chose to sit out the match, to give a minor injury time to heal.

Kim Hughes himself scored 375 runs in the series, including one century at Adelaide where he "confounded the cunning Qadir".

Kim Hughes did not have a successful tour with the bat, scoring 215 runs at an average of 21.50.

Kim Hughes made only four runs in the first innings, out playing the hook shot despite a pre-series pledge not to play the stroke.

Australia was bowled out for 175 and Kim Hughes then dropped two catches in the West Indian innings.

Kim 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 Kim Hughes scoring 34 and 4.

Kim Hughes retained his place in the Australian team for the third Test in Adelaide under new captain, Allan Border.

Kim Hughes failed in both innings, scoring a duck in the first innings and only two runs in the second.

Kim Hughes joined the Australian team in Melbourne for the fourth Test.

Kim Hughes played in some of the remaining One Day Internationals but without success.

Kim 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.

Kim Hughes played six matches for Western Australia that year scoring 223 runs at an average of 22.30.

In September 1989, Kim Hughes signed on as captain of Natal in the South African Currie Cup competition.

Kim Hughes did have a positive influence on two cricketers who later represented South Africa.

Kim Hughes retired from all first-class cricket in February 1991.

Graylands was established as a stop-gap measure but by the time Kim 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, Kim 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.

In return, Kim Hughes was afforded time away from work to pursue cricket.

Kim Hughes was a skilled Australian rules footballer as a junior and was invited to play with the Claremont Football Club in the West Australian National Football League.

Kim Hughes went full throttle at the ball and didn't look for a second option.

Kim Hughes was aged 14 when he met Jenny Davidson, a fellow student at City Beach High School.

Since retirement Kim 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.

Kim Hughes was Head of Cricket at Hale School, in Wembley Downs, Perth.

Kim Hughes gripped the bat high on the handle and played his strokes with a controlled backlift and a full follow through.

Kim Hughes 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 wicket dismissal.

Kim Hughes was widely considered by those who knew him as a likeable and friendly person; a person who wanted to be liked.

Kim Hughes had a generous heart and was a great optimist.

Kim Hughes was fun loving and fun seeking and easily excitable.

Fond of noting that he was born on Australia Day, Kim Hughes was proudly Australian and keen to demonstrate this publicly.

On his first tour to England, Kim Hughes was often the only team member wearing the Australian team blazer.

Kim 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; Kim 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.

Kim Hughes's nickname was "Claggy", a reference to the ubiquitous Clag glue found in classrooms across Australia.