Melbourne, Jan 19: Former Australian Test player and Victorian state cricket coach David Hookes died in hospital today after being assaulted outside a Melbourne pub late last night. Hookes was revived by ambulance paramedics after the assault outside a hotel in the Melbourne bayside suburb of St Kilda. He had serious head injuries and never regained consciousness.
His death was announced tonight by his brother, Terry Cranagh.
Police have charged a 22-year-old man who was believed to have been working as a security guard at the hotel when the attack took place.
In April 2002, Hookes was named coach of the Victorian team.
A former player with South Australia state, the 48-year-old Hookes played 23 Tests for Australia and 39 one-day internationals. He retired in 1992 and has been a radio commentator.
Clark Forbes, the programme director at Melbourne Radio Station 3AW, where Hookes was a member of the on-air team, said the attack was so brutal that ambulance paramedics worked to revive Hookes for half an hour.
"He was revived on the footpath outside the hotel concerned, which is a St Kilda late-night pub where the team had been celebrating yesterday's win over South Australia," Forbes said. Bureau Report