There can't be a cricketer of any generation and of any standard or any devotee of the game anywhere on the planet who hasn't been moved by the death of Phillip Hughes.

The outpouring of grief after he died in Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital on Thursday, two days after he was felled by a blow to the left side of the head from a bouncer in a Sheffield Shield match, has been universal and heartfelt. In the words of Anil Kumble, it has "impacted the cricket world".

The anguish, of course, is more keenly endured in Australia, not just among those who were team-mates and friends for nation and state, but in every city, town and outback station across the length and breadth of that vast, prosperous and diverse country.