Sydney, Apr. 4 : Australian opener Phillip Hughes has become the youngest player ever to win the prestigious Steve Waugh Medal.

Hughes received the coveted gong for being New South Wale''s most outstanding cricketer this summer.

The 20-year-old made it a one-horse race with 231 votes - 72 votes clear of his nearest rival, fast bowler Aaron Bird.

Cape Town (South Africa), Mar. 15 : Australia’s latest batting sensation, opener Phil Hughes, prefers to be called Phillip rather than Phil in print.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, this seemed a bizarre request, given Hughes - unshaven, a fan of shorts and thongs, the son of a banana farmer, vertically challenged, and a country bumpkin to the bone.

But, it seems, he is about as prim and proper as a stubbie-holder.

Melbourne, Mar 14 : Former Australian captain Greg Chappell and other cricket experts have dismissed the criticism about new opening sensation Phillip Hughes homemade batting technique.

"I've felt for a long time in cricket there has been too much of a focus on technique and a misunderstanding of what technique really is," Chappell said.

Melbourne, Mar 12 : Australia's two most exciting prospects for Ashes 2009 series, Mitchell Johnson and Phillip Hughes, have made big impressions in the latest ICC player rankings.

Johnson, the new pace spearhead in the absence of injured duo Stuart Clark and Brett Lee, has climbed to the second spot in the bowling rankings alongside South African rival Dale Steyn on 811 points.

Melbourne, Mar. 9 : Former Australian captain Bill Lawry believes current opener Phillip Hughes should have been picked earlier than he was, claiming he was held back because of a selection process that required overhauling.

"The success of Hughes is a wake-up call to our selection panel that you don''t need to be 30 before you play for Australia,'''' Lawry, a left-hand opener himself, was quoted by the Herald Sun, as saying today

Johannesburg, Feb.