MACKSVILLE (Australia): Cricket bats stood sentry outside homes and hundreds braved fierce summer heat to walk behind the hearse of Phillip Hughes, as Macksville's small community paid tribute Wednesday to the batsman whose career they had followed since he was a boy.

Scores lined roads in the centre of the northern New South Wales coastal town, some with heads bowed, others clapping for the sombre procession which followed the funeral attended by cricketing stars past and present. Green and gold ribbons adorned the streets and shop fronts were taken over by moving tributes to the cricketer who died last week after being hit by a bouncer while playing at the Sydney Cricket Ground.