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It was the news Australia had been dreading.
Phillip Hughes lost his battle to live almost two days to the hour since he was felled by a bouncer at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Cricket Australia announced his death just before 4pm Thursday.
Within minutes the Prime Minister Tony Abbott issued a statement that spoke for a cricket loving nation in mourning.
"Phillip Hughes was a young man living out his dreams. His death is a very sad day for cricket and a heartbreaking day for his family. What happened has touched millions of Australians.
"For a young life to be cut short playing our national game seems a shocking aberration. He was loved, admired and respected by his teammates and by legions of cricket fans. Australians' thoughts and prayers are with the Hughes family."
For two days the young cricketer - he would have turned 26 on Sunday - lay in an induced coma in St Vincent's Hospital as the nation prayed and waited.
His mother and father Virginia and Greg, sister Megan, and brother Jason, maintained a bedside vigil.
The Australia captain Michael Clarke, a long-time teammate and friend, was at his bedside much of the time.
Throughout Thursday many from within and outside Australian cricket - including Sean Abbott, the NSW paceman who bowled the bouncer, David Warner, Matt Wade, Steve Waugh and Alan Jones - visited the hospital offering support and well wishes.
But then the public's worst fears were confirmed when the team doctor Peter Brukner confirmed Phillip Hughes had died during the afternoon.
"He never regained consciousness following his injury on Tuesday," he said.
"He was not in pain before he passed and was surrounded by his family and close friends.
"As a cricket community we mourn his loss and extend our deepest sympathies to Phillip's family and friends at this incredibly sad time.
"Cricket Australia kindly asks that the privacy of the Hughes family, players and staff be respected."
Dr Brukner said at a later press conference at St Vincent's that he was not sure if the Hughes family could have coped so well without the help of Michael Clarke.
"Phillip was like a little brother to Michael," he said.
Clearly emotional, Michael Clarke then read a statement at St Vincent's Hospital on behalf of Hughes' family: "We're devastated by the loss of our much-loved son and brother Phillip. It's been a very difficult few days. We appreciate all the support we've received from family, friends, players, Cricket Australia and the general public. Cricket was Phillip's life, and we as a family shared that love of the game with him."
Hughes was opening for South Australia when he was struck on the head by Abbott's bouncer on Tuesday during a Sheffield Shield game at the SCG.
He was treated on the spot and taken by ambulance to St Vincent's Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery and was put into an induced coma in the hospital's intensive care unit.
News of Hughes's death flashed around the world and social media erupted with tributes and condolences. Television and radio networks carried live coverage. Play was suspended at the start of the second day of the third Test between Pakistan and New Zealand in Sharjah.
The nation began to grieve, the biggest outpouring of sympathy for the loss of an Australian sportsman in living memory.
The Premier Mike Baird announced that flags on NSW government buildings would be flown at half-mast on Friday as a mark of respect.
"This is a heartbreaking time for all cricket and sport lovers in our State. Phillip was a much-admired, dedicated and supremely gifted cricketer who we all felt was on the verge of fulfilling his immense talent," the Premier said.
"Phillip's meteoric rise from the small town of Macksville on the NSW North Coast to the Australian Test team, where he hit a century in each innings of just his second Test, will forever be etched in our nation's proud cricket history."
