
Darren Lehmann admitted that thoughts of his close friend and former Australia cricketer David Hookes made his hundred against Sri Lanka on Thursday more emotional than euphoric on his return to Test action.
Hookes, 48, died on January 19 after suffering serious head injuries and a heart attack in an assault outside a Melbourne hotel the previous night.
The South Australia captain8217;s life was thrown into turmoil by Hookes8217; death and he admitted that he thought about his friend as he neared his fourth test hundred.
8220;He Hookes would have been proud of it and it is good to get back and get some runs,8221; Lehmann told reporters. 8220;Your first Test match hundred is always special and that was made in a pressure situation but this one certainly gives me a lot of satisfaction for personal reasons,8221; he added.
8220;You think about it Hookes8217; death a lot. I think about it everyday still. It comes in your head at certain times but not normally when you are batting. When I started to come close to hundred it started to though.8221;