MORE: Tributes flow in for Phillip Hughes
Phillip Hughes, 25, was meant to be the next partner for David Warner - a fringe player that would blossom into a national sporting hero. It was only a matter of time, or so we thought.
His death is devastating for many reasons.
There are plenty of elite sports people in Australia whose egos swells in sync with their public profile. Hughes was not one of them.
As the cricket community struggles to stomach the news they have lost a much-loved country lad and a great young man, it is worth remembering his moments of glory that were cruelly cut short.
Like so many Aussie kids, Hughes started cricket in the backyard - on his family's banana farm at Macksville in northern NSW .
At 17, he moved to Sydney to play for Western Suburbs in the elite Sydney grade cricket competition and immediately had talent scouts talking.
He arrived on the Sheffield Shield scene as an 18-year-old with a half-century in his first-class debut for NSW in November 2007.
Phillip Hughes on his way to a century for NSW in the 2007/08 Sheffield Shield final. Photo: Ezra Shaw (Getty)
At the end of the season, he became the youngest man to score a century in a Shield final, crafting 116 in the second innings to help his state beat Victoria.
Matthew Hayden's retirement handed Hughes his chance in the Test team.
In his Test debut against South Africa in 2009, the left-hander followed a four-ball duck first with an impressive 75 in his second innings.
But few people expected the onslaught he delivered the Proteas during the second Test in Durban.
Hughes was ruthless against South Africa's devastating pace attack and spinners on his way to a first-innings 115.
There was more magic to follow as Hughes repeated the trick in the second dig with an imperious 160, becoming the youngest player from any country to score a century in both innings of a Test match.
Hughes was dubbed the "next Bradman" after his stunning first series in the baggy green cap.
However his success in the international game steadied as bowling attacks studied weaknesses in his technique.
His struggles playing shots off his body and propensity to get caught behind point quickly became a regular focus for opposition bowlers.
The runs dried up against England in 2009 and New Zealand in 2010/11.
A credit to his determined spirit, Hughes never let the doubters beat him.
A 2011 century against Sri Lanka in Colombo capped a gutsy return to the Test team.
He switched to South Australia in 2013, and the domestic runs continued to flow.
He was the forgotten partner in Ashton Agar's famous 99 at Trent Bridge last year.
But his 81 not out in that match was not enough to save him from being dropped after the second Test in the Ashes.
His last Test was at Lord's. In the first innings he was controversially given out caught behind, with the unreliable hot spot failing to help overturn the dubious dismissal.
Hughes put himself back in the national reckoning in 2014 with a stunning double ton in a 50-over game for Australia A against Proteas' second string side.
His 202 came off 151 balls, including 18 fours and six sixes.
In the end, he played 26 Test matches.
Hughes was supposed to entertain cricket fans for many summers to come.
PHILLIP HUGHES' CRICKET CAREER IN PHOTOS