Phil Hughes' Aussie twang

Twang twang twang. Test Match Special's blog has got a piece on our very own Phil Hughes ahead of his first match for Middlesex. There's a video too, in which Hughes talks for a bit with his Aussie twang, and Andrew Strauss tries not to scream in horror at Hughes' chance to get a headstart in England ahead of the Ashes.

At least, that is what I like to think is going on in Strauss' mind. If I were him, I would be plotting ways to accidently injure young Phil. What's that? Strauss collides with Hughes while running between wickets. Oh no, his bat accidently embedded itself in Hughes' body and surgeons are currently working overtime to extract it from his intestines. Nobody can figure out why the bat was sharpened to a point.

What a shame.

The article's a good read. But my favourite part is where the usual journalistic descriptions of first impressions of an interviewee come into effect:

He looks exactly how you would imagine an average 20-year-old Australian from upstate New South Wales would do.

Oh, a bogan?

But no, it is something far more poetic:

Diamond earring twinkling from his right ear. Healthy covering of three-day stubble. An Aussie twang which would make Ricky Ponting sound upper class.

"An Aussie twang which would make Ricky Ponting sound upper class". Seeing as everyone sees fit to describe the accent as "twangy", perhaps we should just label people "twangs". Phil Hughes is a twang.

There's also a suggestion that Hughes could be the clone of Michael Clarke, which is well founded in some ways. But Shane Warne's not either of their dads so they can't exactly be from the same family.

Aussie twang.