Battling his emotions, Clarke read out a statement on behalf of the Australian cricket team and their support staff and declared "the world lost one of its great blokes this week", after Hughes died on Thursday, having been struck by a bouncer at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday.
Clarke and Hughes' strong relationship has been widely reported this week, with the former having spent just about every waking moment by his mate's side before the latter succumbed to his injuries at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney.
In a clear sign of what was to come, Clarke prefaced his statement with "I'll do my best guys".
"Words cannot express the loss we all feel as a team right now," Clarke said.
"To Greg, Virginia, Jason and Megan, we share in the deep pain that you're feeling.
"Apart from when he was home on the farm with his beloved cattle, Hughesy was at his happiest playing cricket for his country with his mates. Things were always put into perspective when Hughesy said 'where else would you rather be, boys, but playing cricket for your country?'
"We're going to miss that cheeky grin and that twinkle in his eye. He epitomised what the Baggy Green is about and what it means to us all. The world lost one of its great blokes this week and we are all poorer for it.
"Our promise to Hughesy's family is we will do everything we can to honour his memory. Last night I asked Cricket Australia if Hughesy's Australian one-day international shirt number - 64 - could be retired, to which they agreed. That means so much.
"His legacy of trying to improve each and every day will drive us for the rest of our lives. We'd like to thank everyone - both here and overseas - for the touching tributes to Hughesy in recent days."
Clarke regularly paused throughout his statement, visibly composing himself before delivering the next line but his longest pause came before his final few sentences: "Our dressing room will never be the same. We loved him and always will. Rest in peace, brussy."