Matthew Wade tattoo: Australian cricketer gets image of Phillip Hughes's face tattooed on his arm in tribute to his former team-mate

Wade's tribute to Hughes was seen during Victoria's Sheffield Shield title triumph on Wednesday

A close-up of Wade's tattoo of Phillip Hughes (Twitter/@Jesse_Hogan)

Australian cricketer Matthew Wade has paid his respect to his late team-mate Phillip Hughes by having an image of his face tattooed onto his forearm.

Hughes was tragically killed in November 2014 after a bouncer from Sean Abbott struck him on the back of the neck, causing a vertebral artery dissection. After being placed in a medically-induced coma following emergency surgery, Hughes passed away two days’ later leaving the cricket world and beyond in shock.

Perhaps fittingly, Australia have today booked their place in the Cricket World Cup final after beating India by 95 runs, with Steve Smith hitting a magnificent century to which he celebrated by pointing to the sky in memory of their former colleague and friend Hughes – an act that most of the Australian centurions since the tragic accident have repeated.

Wade, whose last Test appearance came alongside Hughes in India two years ago, was seen with a new tattoo on his right forearm which he revealed to be the image of Hughes in his baggy green cap in what is a heart-warming tribute to the former batsman.

Wade (right) and coach Greg Shipperd celebrate Victoria's Sheffield Shield final success (Getty Images)

Matthew Wade shows his tattoo tribute to Phillip Hughes (Twitter/@Jesse_Hogan)

Victoria players celebrate victory in the Sheffield Shild final (Getty Images)

Hughes died on 27 November 2014 (Getty Images)

After leading Victoria to the Sheffield Shield title by defeating Western Australia on Wednesday, Wade showed his new tattoo to Fairfax Media reporter Jesse Hogan, who put a picture of it on Twitter. The image shows Hughes’ face, along with the Sydney Cricket Ground clock face, the scene of where Hughes was struck on the neck.

In the finer detail, the clock can be seen to read 4:08, the Test number awarded to Hughes when he made his debut in February 2009.