| David Hookes, the attacking left-handed bat from South Australia, was
expected to be the major Australian batsman of the 1980s, but selectors
lost faith in him despite his continued prolific scoring in the
Sheffield Shield. He was fast-tracked into the Australian side, making
his Test debut in the Centenary Test of 1976-77, when he scored 56 in
the second innings and hit every ball of an over from Tony Greig to the
boundary. He toured England under Greg Chappell in 1977, scoring 50 at
Lord's and 85 at the Oval. Despite his inexperience he was given one of
the longest contracts offered by World Series Cricket, and he had a
prolific season in their Supertests in 1978-79, scoring 116 against West
Indies at VFL Park, Melbourne; 69 at Sydney; and 33 and 96 against the
WSC World XI at Sydney. In the WSC tour of the West Indies, though, he
barely crept out of double figures. Hookes defection to World Series may
have cost him dear as, after scoring 43 and 37 in Brisbane against West
Indies in the first Test after the return of the stars, he was dropped
for Peter Toohey. In Pakistan in the same season he got two ducks in his
only Test. He played a full series on Mike Gatting's Ashes tour of
1982-3, scoring 56 in Perth, 66 not out - the winning runs - in
Brisbane, and 53 and 68 in Melbourne. Despite scoring 143 not out
against Sri Lanka in Kandy and playing in West Indies in 1983-84 he
faded from the team in 1985-86. In the World Cup of 1983 he made good
scores in both of Australia's matches against West Indies, making 45 at
Headingley and 56 at the Oval. He bowled occasional left arm spin of
both varieties. (Bob Harragan ©)
On the night of 18
January 2004, Hookes went to the Beaconsfield Hotel in St Kilda,
Melbourne, with members of the Victoria and South Australia cricket
teams, to celebrate a win by the former over the latter in a one-day
match. Shortly after midnight, the party was asked to leave the hotel,
though there are conflicting stories as to the reason. It is also
unclear whether the party left voluntarily or were forced to leave. The
security staff continued following the party for a short distance
outside the hotel, and there was an altercation. Witnesses gave highly
conflicting testimony of what occurred and who started the fight, but
what is not in doubt is that Hookes fell to the ground, hitting his head
in the process, and going into cardiac arrest. He was revived by
paramedics but did not regain consciousness. He was taken to Melbourne's
Alfred Hospital and placed on life support. The following evening,
after family and friends had said their goodbyes, Hookes was taken off
life support and died shortly afterwards. Hookes was an organ donor and
ten people received transplanted organs.
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