Twitter '#putoutyourbats' tribute for Phil Hughes goes viral

Hundreds of cricket fans have paid tribute to the late Australia batsman Phil Hughes by taking part in Twitter campaign '#putoutyourbats'.

The 25-year-old passed away yesterday after getting struck on the neck by a bouncer bowled by Sean Abbott during a Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday.

The batsman suffered 'rare' vertebral artery dissection and never regained consciousness after he was taken to St Vincent's hospital to undergo surgery.

On Twitter, one man decided to pay tribute to the sportsman by taking a photo of his cricket bat and cap and adding the hashtag #putoutyourbats, but it quickly went viral when a number of cricketers followed his lead.

Below are a selection of tweets paying tribute to Hughes in this manner.

I used this bat at Lords in 2010 against the West Indies and made 63* #putyourbatsout pic.twitter.com/AKcNQRH2Y6

— Graeme Swann (@Swannyg66) November 28, 2014

#putyourbatsout #PhilHughes love ya cuz pic.twitter.com/sBqaY2Zqqs

— Nick Compton (@thecompdog) November 28, 2014

#putyourbatsout in memory of Phil Hughes #63notout #RIP #CRICKETFAMILY

A photo posted by Joe Root (@joeroot30) on Nov 11, 2014 at 1:17am PST

#putoutyourbats missing my little mate so much!! I wish I can wake up from this bad dream. Once again not out on the cricket field and forever #63notout love you BRAZ!!

A photo posted by David Warner (@davidwarner31) on Nov 11, 2014 at 11:38pm PST

A tribute to Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes at the training ground this morning #PutOutYourBats #RIPPhilHughes pic.twitter.com/qkA8cVRP39

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) November 28, 2014

If you haven't seen it, here's Google Australia's tribute to Phillip Hughes #putoutyourbats http://t.co/DJ3ETQvSlP pic.twitter.com/4OpnfeT8JX

— BBC Radio 5 live (@bbc5live) November 28, 2014