It was a fitting farewell to batting legend Mike Hussey when he hoisted the Big Bash League trophy at the MCG last night, ending four years of Sydney Thunder mediocrity.
In the first three years of the BBL the Thunder were the cellar-dwellers, and last year they finished second last.
But since arriving for BBL04, Hussey made it his personal responsibility to make the Thunder competitive. He achieved far more than that.
With South African Jacques Kallis, West Indian Andre Russell, Shane Watson, Usman Khawaja and himself to lead the squad, Hussey has achieved what the late, great rugby league coach Jack Gibson would have described as “played strong, done good”.
The Thunder (7-181) got home over the Melbourne Stars (7-176) in a crackerjack final, with Ben Rohrer blasting a huge straight-driven six in the final over to seal the win.
To add more colour, the final was a Hussey family affair, with Mike captaining the Thunder, and younger brother David skippering the Stars on their mother Helen’s birthday.
And full marks to David giving big brother a guard of honour as Mike made his way to the crease – a nice and deserving touch.
My lasting memory of that game though, will be Mike Hussey farewelling the 47,672 crowd who were on their feet in salute – another nice and deserving touch.
But the two Husseys weren’t to play major roles in the result. David scored 21, Mike 18.
It was left to Kevin Pietersen – with 74 off 39 with four boundaries and 5 sixes – for the Stars, and the Thunder’s man of the moment, and man of the match, Usman Khawaja’s 70 off 40 with five boundaries and 3 sixes to show the way.
Khawaja only played four games for the Thunder in the tournament and fired every time, with 109*, 62, 104* and 70 for 345 runs at an average of 172.50.
How the national selectors left Khawaja out of the ODIs against India – and now New Zealand – beggars belief. He must be in the playing XI for the Twenty20 World Cup in India in March.
In the early game, the Sydney Thunder (7-116) made it a first-time double by beating the Sydney Sixers (7-115) in the inaugural women’s Big Bash final – another fabulous finale.
What would have been the odds of both Sydney Thunder teams winning their respective finals by three wickets with three balls remaining?
The ‘Governor’ of the Sydney Thunder, Mark Waugh, didn’t let on.
David Warner's Sydney Thunder solo mission has proven in vain, as the Sixers booked their spot in the Big Bash League finals win a…
Ricky Ponting has lashed the Sydney Showground wicket as "substandard" and questioned if the Thunder should consider abandoning the stadium for Canberra after a…
Ben McDermott has returned from concussion to steer the Hobart Hurricanes to a confidence-boosting seven-wicket BBL win over the Sydney Thunder. McDermott, who missed…
Matthew Wade has blasted 82 as the Hobart Hurricanes overcame the Melbourne Renegades and some fielding restriction drama to notch a breakthrough Big Bash…
Cameron Bancroft feels he is a better player than when he last played for Australia as he ramps up his case for a full-time…
The Brisbane Heat's bowlers have delivered them an impressive 20-run win against the Sydney Thunder in Canberra to continue their unbeaten start to the…
