A minute for Hookes

It emerged that hotel bouncer Zdravco Micevic, 21, who has been charged with assaulting Hookes, is already awaiting trial accused of intentionally causing serious injury to another hotel patron in late 2002. As police consider laying further charges, it was also reported that Micevic had trained as a boxer and that a manager of one of the pubs where he worked had complained recently about his excessively aggressive confrontations with patrons.

Micevik was released on bail by a Melbourne magistrate who banned him from working as a crowd controller and ordered him to reappear for committal on a charge of assaulting Hookes outside a pub in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda just before midnight on Sunday. The Victorian state government promised an overhaul of legislation covering the conduct of security guards and hotel bouncers in the aftermath of the Hookes tragedy.

South Australia-born Hookes, whose 178 First Class matches included 23 Tests and 39 one-day matches for Australia, was lately coach of the Victoria state side which leads the Sheffield Shield competition. Hookes, who is survived by his wife Robyn and two step-children, shot to instant fame on his debut in the 1977 Australia-England Centenary Test in which he scored five fours in one over off the bowling of then England captain Tony Greig.

Greig said today that he had had a beer with Hookes after the match and from then on became firm friends. ‘‘People who know him will know that not only was he a good cricketer but a stimulating, innovative cricket teacher and that’s just developed more and more over the years,’’ said Greig who described the death as an ‘‘absolute tragedy’’.

Golfer Greg Norman was one of many high-profile Australians left shocked by news of the death. ‘‘For the life of me I don’t understand senseless, stupid, friggin’ accidents like this. I mean, what a waste of somebody’s life,’’ Norman told reporters in Los Angeles.