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David Hussey’s axing from the Victorian Sheffield Shield team has all but confirmed he will finish his career as the most unfortunate player of the modern era, never to play Test cricket for Australia.
Hussey would have entered this summer clinging to the hope of a surprise Test call up similar to that received by his Victorian teammate Chris Rogers, who is also 36 years old.
Yet his start to the Shield season was so underwhelming he could not even maintain his place in the Victorian side for their match against Tasmania this week.
In his last 20 first-class matches for Victoria and Nottinghamshire, he has averaged just 28 with the bat.
Being dropped from Australia’s limited overs sides in the past 12 months had already dealt a significant blow to Hussey’s dream of donning the baggy green.
The selectors have shown that performances at ODI level, in particular, hold some weight when Test positions are considered.
Early last year, Hussey was one of the most important members of the ODI side.
In his first four years in the team he had averaged 39 with the bat as a middle-order enforcer while also proving to be a useful spin option.
But then his limited overs form evaporated along with his first-class touch.
In his final 22 ODI matches he averaged just 22 with the bat and 51 with the ball.
Hussey’s only chance of making a very unlikely Test debut is to win his way back into the Victorian side, put up spectacular numbers in the Shield and for George Bailey to flounder at number six in the Ashes.
Even in such a scenario it is likely the selectors would opt to replace Bailey with a player much younger than Hussey.
If he does retire without a Test cap to his name, would that make him the player must unfortunate not to line-up for Australia in the modern era?
His main competitors for that unwanted titles are the two Jamies – Cox and Siddons.
Former Tasmanian opener Cox holds the record for the most Shield games played at 161 and trails only current Aussie coach Darren Lehmann as the all-time leading scorer with 10,821 runs.
Cox won the Sheffield Shield player of the year award in the 2000-2001 season after years of consistent performance but still could not earn a berth on the 2001 Ashes tour.
It was not altogether surprising he never broke into the Test side given the calibre of openers who played for Australia during his career – Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Michael Slater, Mark Taylor and Matthew Elliott.
Cox, who finished his first-class career with 18,614 runs at an average of 43, including 51 centuries, would have been a lock in almost any other Test team of the time.
Third on the all-time Shield run scoring list behind Cox, Siddons was a beguiling stroke maker and remarkable fieldsman.
The Victorian, who also played Shield cricket for South Australia, racked up 11,587 runs at an average of 45 in first-class cricket, including 35 tons.
For his efforts he was rewarded with a solitary ODI appearance for Australia against Pakistan in 1988.
It is arguable that Hussey is a better all-round cricketer than either of those legends of State cricket.
The frailty of Australia’s batting at Test level over the past four to five years have made Hussey’s exclusion all the more remarkable.
He has had to watch as Test debuts were handed to inferior players like Glenn Maxwell, Moises Henriques, Rob Quiney, Ed Cowan, Shaun Marsh, Marcus North, Phil Hughes, Usman Khawaja and David Warner.
None of those players can boast a record close to that of Hussey, who has churned out 13,175 first-class runs at 52, with 43 centuries.