Recent one-day results may not suggest Australia’s cricketers have been forced to graft against England, but batsman Michael Hussey believes they are very much a blue-collar outfit these days.
Hussey has gone from playing alongside some of the greatest players the game has produced to mentoring the newer faces in the squad.
“I think we’re more of a working class team now,” Hussey said.
“When I first started playing it was an unbelievable team to be involved with. There was so much confidence, there was so much presence about the team. You did expect to win every single game and win it well.
“We had so many match winners that if (Matt) Hayden didn’t come off, it’d be (Adam) Gilchrist or it’d be (Ricky) Ponting, or (Glenn) McGrath would get the wickets. It was expected and it’s generally what happened most of the time.
“Being part of this team, everyone has a specific job they’ve got to do and we all have to be doing our jobs if we’re going to win and win well.
“We don’t rely just on one player to make all the runs or to be the match-winner.
“We’ve all got to chip in and do our bit.”
Hussey has enjoyed watching the development of players like 24-year-old newcomer Tim Paine.
The wicketkeeper-batsman scored a half-century in his fifth one-day international as Australia clinched the seven-game series against England 4-0 with an emphatic seven-wicket victory at Lord’s on Saturday.
With stylish batsman Callum Ferguson, 24, and developing match-winner Cameron White, 26, also starring up the order, 34-year-old Hussey has had little time in the middle batting at No.6 since the Ashes.
“I actually get on well with the younger generation,” said Hussey, who made his one-day international debut at 28 and played his first Test two years later.
“They are different, but it’s good because I can learn a bit off them as well. I am available for anyone who wants to chat at any time.
“And it goes both ways. I like to chat to them about computer games and stuff, which I know absolutely know nothing about, which hopefully can help my kids.”
Despite moving into position to topple South Africa for the No.1 spot in the world one-day rankings, Hussey doesn’t believe the Australians can consider themselves the best one-day side in the world.
He sees their defence of the Champions Trophy, starting later this month in South Africa, as a more telling test of where the team sits on the world stage.
“I think we’ve got a lot of work to do before we can honestly claim that we’re the best one-day team in the world,” Hussey said.
“So it’s definitely a motivating factor for the team to try and be the best team in the world, but I don’t think that’s where we see ourselves at the moment.
“We’re building a new team, a new environment, a new culture almost really, and trying to take bits and pieces from the past regimes and trying to improve on those as well.”
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