Cricketer Phillip Hughes laid to rest in hometown

Australian cricket team captain Michael Clarke stands over the casket of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes during his funeral service in the town of Macksville, located north of Sydney, December 3, 2014. The funeral of Australian test cricketer Hughes began to the strains of a song entitled "Forever Young" in his home town on Wednesday as a nation united to celebrate the life of a sportsman cut down in his prime. Eight days after he was struck by a ball in the back of the head and six after he died of the catastrophic injuries that resulted, his family, friends and a host of cricketing greats gathered at Macksville High School to bid farewell to him. [Photo/Agencies]

MACKSVILLE, Australia - The funeral for cricketer Phillip Hughes turned into a celebration of his life on Wednesday despite the grief and sorrow still evident from his death.

Australia captain Michael Clarke and the rest of the test squad were joined by former and current players from around the world, and friends and relatives from Hughes' hometown of 2,500 people on the northern coast of New South Wales state, 575 kilometers (350 miles north of Sydney).

Clarke was a pallbearer and spoke at the funeral service held at the Macksville Recreation Centre and which opened to the song "Forever Young'' by Youth Group.

The service closed with Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me,'' the same song the famous entertainer and avid cricket fan performed at a concert last weekend in Germany in tribute to Hughes.

Hughes died last Thursday, aged 25, two days after being hit near the ear by a ball while batting for South Australia against his former state side New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

In steaming temperatures of nearly 30 Celsius (85F) early arrivals to the service, including Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, fanned themselves with papers.

At the front of the hall, near the altar for the Roman Catholic service, was Hughes' oak brown casket. Flowers, a cricket bat, and his baggy green test cap were nearby.

Leading the service, which included a video tribute, Father Michael Alcock remembered the batsman as a "shining light.''

"In his short time he walked as a child of the light, not in an ostentatious way but in a natural, unassuming and passionate way,'' the priest said.

Jason Hughes, Phillip's older brother, said his sibling was "destined to be a rock star.''

"I couldn't have asked for a better little brother,'' Hughes said as his parents Greg and Virginia wept in the front row of the congregation.