As the nation mourns the loss of former prime minister Bob Hawke and his many remarkable moments, there is one photograph that is hard to forget - the day Hawkey's glasses was smashed by a bouncer bowled to him on Kingston Oval in Canberra.

The man who captured the shot was The Canberra Times' photographer Peter Wells.

It was in 1984 during an annual cricket match between the prime minister's staff and the Canberra press gallery.

Mr Hawke was hit in the eye by a bouncer bowled by a Newcastle Herald journalist Garry O'Neill. Mr Hawke was taken to hospital, but returned before the end of the match.

"That was Garry O'Neill from the Herald, so I expect a good run in the Herald for the next couple of weeks," he said at the time.