The funeral of cricketer Phillip Hughes has begun, with the young star’s grieving family joined by many of the world’s cricketing elite and thousands of mourners.

Hughes’s home town of Macksville on the NSW mid-north coast has shut down for the funeral service, where Australia’s Test cricket team and former players including captains Ricky Ponting and Mark Taylor have been joined by Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.

With around 1,000 people filling the high school hall where the funeral will be held, thousands more are watching at overflow sites on a nearby oval, while sites have also been set up for viewers in capital cities around the country.

Australian captain Michael Clarke will read one of two tributes to Hughes after eulogies from his brother and sister.

Hughes, 25, died last week after being struck by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.