A moment for Scott Mason

Scott who?

Well, in the whirl of international cricket, where one day is a long time, where the condition of Sachin Tendulkar's elbow sends an entire nation into a tizzy, spare a moment for Scott Robert Mason, the Tasmanian opening batsman, who died at the age of 28 of a heart failure. While it always seems a terrible waste when someone dies so early, you can't help feeling worse when it happens to a young cricketer with his best ahead of him.

So, as Peter Newlinds writes in his piece, on ABC Sport let us look beyond the obvious for just one moment.

... for those of us who watched him and who followed his career closely "Maso" won't be forgotten and his cruel, tragic death at the age of 28 will remind us that there are plenty of more important things than a man's career stats.

And, here's what colleague, captain and team-mate Jamie Cox had to say about him:

Just such a likeable guy, and an inspiration, and I guess you could say tragically but ironically he was one of the heartbeats of our team. There aren't enough words to say enough about this little mate, he was a beauty.