Sorrow and triumph: How the young opener faced his toughest test
Few cricketers have had more difficult first-class debuts than Ryan Hackney. Neglected to duck a 12-ball in the first half, the young NSW opener only better scored by one run in the second. But that return wasn’t what made that week in February so difficult. After banging on the Blues’ door of selection over the previous four seasons with 3,600 Premier Cricket and a NSW Second XI running nearly 40, places have finally opened due to a finger injury to captain Kurtis Patterson. Hackney exits Gabba after being knocked out in Sheffield Shield first round // Getty So the boy from the Blue Mountains should have enjoyed the greatest achievement of his sports career. But a week before the game against Queensland at Gabba, where he received his No.758 Baggy Blue hat, Hackney received news the 22-year-old shouldn’t have heard. His father, Peter, suffered a heart attack and died suddenly at the age of 53. For Hackney, the decision to play was a simple one. “I know that’s what he wants me to do,”