Hussey on standby for Clarke

Australia’s malfunctioning batting order hasn’t paid too high a price for several failures due to the uniform excellence of the home side’s bowling attack.

But there is little doubt the Australians must find runs in greater quantities tomorrow if they are to defeat India in front of a near capacity crowd at Adelaide Oval and so build a points advantage in the race to the finals.

Left-arm paceman Mitchell Johnson is champing at the bit to take the new ball against the Indians after the decision was made to rest Brett Lee from the fixture.

Johnson was mindful though that the Australian batsmen cannot always expect to have a mediocre total defended in the field, as it was at the WACA where a middling 236 proved enough to see off Sri Lanka.

Andrew Symonds, captain Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden are all yet to post a half-century in the series, and they may have even more to do if Michael Clarke (bruised ribs) is ruled out.

Victorian batsman David Hussey, who hasn’t played a one-day international but made his Australian debut in the Twenty20 match against India at the MCG on February 1, has been flown to Adelaide tonight on standby for Clarke.

“I’ve dipped my feet in international cricket, I want to play some more,” the 30-year-old younger brother of Mike Hussey said tonight from the SCG after day two of the Pura Cup match against NSW.

Asked whether he would take Clarke’s position in the Australian batting order, Hussey added: “Just as long as I bat ahead of Mike, I’ll be very, very happy.

“I bat number four for Victoria, so I’d like to bat there, but it doesn’t matter where I bat as long as I get a game.”

Hussey has scored 379 at 35.66 in domestic one-dayers this season along with his more impressive tally of 729 at 66.27 in the Pura Cup.

Johnson said Australia’s middle-order batting needed to “kick on”.

“There hasn’t been too much talk about it but I think the guys all know we need to through that middle period score a few more runs and keep wickets in hand.

“We were on a good run to get a high total (at the WACA) and it didn’t happen but we’ll go ahead positive.”

Also nagging at the Australians is a steady stream of dropped catches, many of them from the bowling of Johnson in his first full international season.

“It is frustrating at times but I guess I move on, try to put a smile on my face and get on with it,” Johnson said.

“Matt (Hayden) apologised a few overs later (following a drop in Perth) after I cooled off. No-one likes dropping catches and it’s just part of the game.”

Lee’s absence is a nod to the demands of the international program, while also allowing Johnson to share the new ball with Nathan Bracken.

“During the Tests at the start I was probably thinking about it too much and trying to swing the ball instead of just hitting the deck like I normally do and get that swing,” Johnson said.

“Towards the end of that series I did relax and I’m doing that now.”

Possible teams:

Australia: Ricky Ponting (capt), Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke/David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, James Hopes, Brad Hogg, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Ashley Noffke (12th man).

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Shantha Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Piyush Chawla (12th man).

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