WESTERN Zone batsman Jordan Moran will have more reason than most to fire at this weekend's NSW Country Championships southern pool carnival in Griffith, with the Dubbo-based wicketkeeper-batsman still reeling from the horrific injury suffered by good friend Phil Hughes on Tuesday.
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Hughes underwent emergency brain surgery just hours after being struck in the head by a bouncer from Sean Abbott in the Sheffield Shield match between NSW and South Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The incident sent shockwaves through the entire sporting fraternity, with thousands of wellwishers from all parts of the globe taking to social media to send their support to the 25-year-old, described by Moran as a 'great bloke'.
The pair spent six years opening the batting together for various North Coast junior representative teams, and while his thoughts are with his little mate, Moran is still focused on the job ahead of him this weekend.
"It's been a rough 24 hours or so, but it's definitely given me more motivation to go out and perform this weekend," Moran said.
"Phil played with Macksville and I played with Bellingen up on the coast but we played a lot of rep cricket together and it made me feel pretty sick when I saw what happened to him.
"Everyone is just hoping and praying the news is good."
Hughes' mother Virginia and sister Megan were at the ground when the incident happened, while his father Greg was back in Macksville. Brother Jason has also been by his side.
Moran said there is a huge support base surrounding the family at St Vincent's Hospital.
"You never really go out on to a cricket field thinking something like this will happen. It's a freakish thing and I think everyone is in a huge amount of shock," Moran said.
"But there's a lot of people helping his family out. 'Hughesy' played most of his cricket in NSW and I know Michael Clarke, Davey Warner and Dan Smith have been there with them.
"It's just great that there's so many people there to be by his side and by his family's side."
Western Zone will face Riverina, Southern and Illawarra in the three-day carnival, which starts tomorrow, and Moran is confident the side can book a place in the final against northern pool winners Newcastle.
"This is our third year in the southern pool so we pretty much know what to expect from the other teams, and we've prepared well," Moran said.
"I know the Dubbo guys are hitting the ball well, and then to see 'Bezza' (Tim Berry) come out and take six wickets in the rep game against Orange last week shows everyone is in pretty good form."