| Player: | PJ Hughes |
DateLine: 17th June 2009
When this 20-year-old took the field with the willow against South Africa in his debut Test series, he was already being seen as someone who would replace the great Matthew Hayden. The expectations were quashed as the left-hander got out for a fourth ball duck then.
But the fears that he was nowhere close did not last long as he showed in his first series itself that he is one of most accomplished batsman as a starter. Hughes was Australia's youngest debutant since Craig McDermott 25 years earlier. From his debut he recorded twin centuries in Durban and brought up his first hundred with two sixes. He finished with 415 runs in the three Tests and then followed it up with hundreds in each of his three County Championship games for Middlesex.
With Hayden missing and the bowling struggling, the Australians would bee looking forward to this youngster to give them a solid start at the top of the order. What he has shown till now in terms of talent is testimonial to the fact that he is quite capable of coming to par with expectations.