What shocks me is how suddenly this all unfolded , this time yesterday he would've been preparing to head out for a night with the boys after their hard fought win , muling about in his head would have been the shortcomings he would have to address at training before Friday.
All accounts indicate they were just having a nice quiet drink , then out of the blue a dispute errupted & he stepped in & attempted to put a damper on things in a non-confrontational manner , then some egotistical 22 year old bouncer decided it would look pretty cool if he took matters in to his own hands , and just like that , suddenly we lost one of the most valued members of the Australian cricket community
It saddens me to look back on how much everyone took him for granted while we still had him , he was always Hookey that outspoken , attention seeking , Blue critic from South Australia.
I for one used to always consider him a very interesting man , he had a superb eye for talent....and he should know after all.
And one of the best cricketing brains one could hope to find , the thing that really stood out was his honesty & sincerety , he would always speak his mind , no half measures , no side-stepping the issue , he made sure no one was in any doubt as to his opinions.
Of course that got him off side with many people & I certainly cannot say I agreed with everything he said , but his honesty & integrity will be sorely missed , he offered another angle on things in the media with his work for 'Inside Cricket' & he was in the process of transforming a mediocre Bushrangers team into a very powerful unit , I for one will be supporting the Bushrangers from now on in this years Pura Cup , as has been said DO IT FOR HOOKESY.
I was just the other day pondering how funny it would be if we made Hookesy chairman of selectors.
We really dont know how much we value characters like him until we loose them
