Allan Border predicted great things for Phillip Hughes Former Australian skipper Allan Border. Former Test captain Allan Border recently wrote what he admired most about injured cricketer Phil Hughes was the 25-year-old's attitude because he liked to fight and had an appetite for big scores. Border, who recently released the book Cricket as I see it wrote glowingly of Hughes, paid no truck to those who questioned Hughes's ability to play at the top level because he'd already been dropped twice from the national team. "I like him, not so much because he's pretty to watch, but for a simpler reason: he scores big runs," wrote Border. His technique isn't perfect, but at the time of writing he's scored 26 first-class hundreds and three Test tons as well as two one-day international hundreds for Australia. He accumulates runs wherever he plays, and this is a very nice habit for a batsman to adopt. Border also questioned whether Hughes, from the northern NSW country town of Macksville, was dropped too early when, at 19, he encountered some problems against the English fast bowlers during the 2009 Ashes tour of Britain. He even suggested that he could be treading the same path as former opener Justin Langer, who played 105 Tests for his nation. "It was a premature decision," he wrote. He'd made runs in South Africa in the same year, and while he was out of sorts in England, he had a few mates. But Hughes could end up being like Justin Langer, who had to wait a long time to cement a place in the Test team. Hughes is 25 years old, and the truth is most players will hit a rocky patch when they reach the international level but the good ones come back. Getting dropped isn't a problem in itself; it's more of a challenge. There's no disgrace in it. Phil has a good attitude: he likes to fight. Next time we give him a go, we should stick with him. He's a player for the future and I know he'll be hungry. He has eight to ten good years in him, and that could be 100 Test matches. Hughes was in contention for that "next go" and to replace Michael Clarke if he was forced to pull out of next week's Test in Brisbane. Tragically, he was struck in the side of the head on Tuesday by a delivery from NSW bowler Sean Abbott while batting for South Australia during the Sheffield Shield match at the SCG. He died on Thursday afternoon. He was on 63 and his innings against a bowling attack that contained internationals Abbott, Mitchell Starc, Doug Bollinger and Nathan Lyon would've impressed national selector Mark Waugh who was at the ground to monitor Hughes and the other candidates for Clarke's berth. The impact of the tragedy has run deep. Sydney grade cricket club Western Suburbs, who Hughes scored 141 for in his debut as a 17-year-old fresh from the bush in 2006, offered counselling to the players who he'd forged strong friendships with. The Wests Leagues Club at Ashfield, where Hughes worked before securing his cricket contracts, said the accident had hit his former work colleagues hard. Radio host Alan Jones who befriended Hughes and would often talk about horseracing with him said he'd often had him over at his home and described him on his breakfast show on 2GB on Thursday morning as a "special young man." "I'm just grateful I told him so on many occasions," said Jones.