Hookes was one of my early heroes when I discovered Radio Australia in the mid-eighties. ABC used to broadcast Sheffield Shield matches on Saturdays. I used to wait for South Australia's matches because Hookes and Wayne Phillips used to score very fast. On one of the rare Saturdays that I missed it, Hookes hit a 306* and had a stand of 462* with Phillips.
Have never seen him live on tv, but there was this video on one day cricket which was popular here during the time of the Reliance World Cup. The part of it about the introduction of helmets featured Hookes as the example. Batting helmetless in the Packer series, Hookes took a terrific crack on the jaw while hooking Andy Roberts. Two weeks he made a comeback for the final against WI wearing a helmet. On a green wicket, WI was allout for 124. When Australia batted, Roberts bounced Hookes again, but his reply was two mighty sixes over midwicket. But nobody else made runs and Australia was allout for 99.
This, and the clipping of his five consecutive fours off Tony Grieg on his test debut in the Centenary test are the pictures of Hookes that I carry in memory.
A 34 ball hundred that he scored for South Australia in a failed fourth innings chase is still the fastest legitimate hundred scored in a first class match, and his only test hundred included a century in a session.
As they say, ' a well graced actor leaves the stage and becomes only a memory in a world of happy memories'.
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