Dear Hughesy, we will never forget you

Today would have been a day when a young man, full of life and a great passion for a game he loved and played, would have cut a cake and enjoyed his 26th birthday in a far off countryside in Australia. But fate had other plans and in a tragic turn of events a freak accident ended that spirited life in its youth while he was playing his favourite sport.

No, no, no, this was not how our great game of cricket was meant to be. It was meant to spread joy and delight; often accomplishment and triumph, though at times, physical pain and sorrow of defeat, but never fear and dread of death. However on that fateful Thursday, a day that the cricket world will forever remember mournfully, a fatal bouncer shattered all those good things one associated with the game of cricket. 

Phil Hughes was that typical countryside boy who took to cricket with great hopes and aspirations. The boy who was brought up in a banana farm, amidst hordes of cattle, had the audacity of self belief to dream big. And when that boy showed massive talent in his trade he was immediately selected for national duties by a cricket country that is famous for late bloomers in cricket, given the enormous vault of talent it holds. In his second test appearance itself Hughes made history by becoming the youngest batsman to hit hundreds in both innings of a test match. In his ODI debut he hit another hundred and become the only Australian to hit a century in his debut match. Though he was often in and out of the Australian team, there was never a doubt in his talent and experts were always of the opinion that the little lad from Macksville was destined to greatness. Hughes was all set to return to the Australian side against India as a replacement for his long time mate Michael Clarke when tragedy struck.

Like all other cricket lovers across the world, this writer was also hoping that Phil Hughes will win his fight for life and will get back to playing cricket at the highest level. But it was not to be and like all other true lovers of the game this writer was also shattered by the news of Hughes’ passing. This writer also joined with cricket fans the world over in grieving and mourning the bereavement of the young cricketer who was not only respected but also loved by his friends and family and those who got a chance to play with him and against him.

During these extraordinary times in cricket, we also need to spare some thought for Sean Abbott, whose bouncer resulted in this freak accident. The tremendous outpouring of sympathy and support for the young bowler showed the unity of the cricket family. This writer is sure that the young man would be getting psychological help from Cricket Australia to overcome this awful tragedy.

Though we must not give kneejerk reactions to this tragedy it is important that ICC review all the safety equipments used in cricket. This great game can’t afford to have another of this tragedy and all involved must make sure that Phil Hughes’ martyrdom doesn’t go wasted. We must never forget Phil Hughes, the gentleman in this gentlemen’s sport, who laid down his life playing a game he loved the most.

When to use “I” and when to use “me”

What will be your answer if you knock on a closed door and the person inside the room asks you, “May I know who that is?” Will you say, “It is me” or will you say “It is I”?

If your answer is “It is me”, then grammatically it is wrong. The correct usage is “It is I”.

But grammarians will probably forgive you because almost everyone says, “It is me”, so much so that it has generally been accepted as correct.

Then when to use “I” and when to use “me?

“I” is first person subject pronoun, which means that it refers to the person who is performing the action of a verb.

I can speak Tamil.

In the above example, “I” is the person who is performing the action of the verb “speak” or “I” is the subject.

Similarly, “You and I can speak Tamil.”

Here, “you and I” are the persons who are performing the action of the verb “speak”.

So whenever you are the subject of an action, you should use “I”.

“Me” is first person object pronoun, which means that it refers to the person that the action of a verb is being done to.

Anand told me to leave.

Here “me” is the person on whom the action of the verb “told” is being acted on or “me” is the object of the verb (whereas “Anand” is the subject).

Anand told Arjun and me to leave.

Here, “Arjun and me” are the persons on whom the action of the verb “told” is being acted on.

So whenever you are the object of an action, you should use “me”.

Confusion

Generally confusion comes when you have “I” or “me” connected to another name or a pronoun as in above mentioned sentences,

“You and I can speak Tamil.”

OR

Anand told Arjun and me to leave.

Whenever you are confused on deciding which one to use, you remove the other person from the sentence and then try to make the sentence. When that is the case you are less likely to make the mistake of using

Me can speak Tamil OR Anand told I to leave.

Those sentences really sound wrong, don’t they?

Alternate Method

One of this writer's friends, Raji Stephen offered an alternate method. The following is how he explained it. 

Take the following sentences.

That was I who called you yesterday.
That was me whom you called yesterday.

In order to check if your usage is right or not, you can simply take out the "action" part and make a question by adding "who" (e.g., who called?, who can speak?). If the answer points to self or a group including self, then the usage should be "I" and if the answer points to another person or a group excluding you, then the usage should be "me".  

Hope this helps.