Sydney: Australian batsman Phillip Hughes has a fractured skull and suffered catastrophic bleeding in his brain, reports said Thursday, as shattered players maintained a vigil at his hospital bedside.

Hughes, who was due to celebrate his 26th birthday this weekend, is in his third day of intensive care in an induced coma after surgery. He remains critical after being felled by a Sean Abbott bouncer during a Sheffield Shield game between South Australia and New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday.