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The seemingly endless debate about the Australian cricket team will end next Monday, curiously, and when the squad is named for the First Test in Brisbane, eyes will quickly whip through the list of names to see if “Michael Hussey, WA” features.
While the bowling attack is becoming a debate within itself, especially after a few ordinary performances during the first two one-dayers against Sri Lanka, the only source of uncertainty regarding the batting order seems to revolve around whether either, both, or indeed neither Mike Hussey and Marcus North can hold their spots.
Three weeks ago, I wrote, “If you were picking one of the two to bat for your life, North’s roller coaster form offers no contest against Hussey’s record, and so North really needs a big month”.
Well since then, North has had a reasonable month, including a century in the drawn SA-WA Sheffield Shield match in which Hussey had twin failures, and Ashes aspirant Callum Ferguson peeled off a classy hundred in his First Class return from a knee reconstruction.
North, though, has since followed this up with twin failures of his own in the tour match in Perth against England, to again highlight that his batting form remains more up and down than the hilly streets of San Francisco.
I’d still have North in the crosshairs if I were sitting at the selection table, but I wouldn’t mind betting now that his second innings hundred in Adelaide will probably be enough to overlook the failings since.
And this all means that Mike Hussey is now front and centre in the firing line, with his recent returns making it difficult for the believers to keep the faith.
Had he been 30 instead of 35, he probably would have been dropped some time ago, but with the general agreement that he’s too good a batsman not to be back at some point. But now that he’s had a 35th birthday, a failure to make the Test side for Brisbane will almost certainly spell the end of his Test career.
And it could well be that Hussey’s spot in the side is the first big test for the all-new selection panel, which this summer features its first full-time appointee in Greg Chappell. Andrew Hilditch has maintained his part-time Chairman of Selectors role, perhaps controversially so, and Chappell’s appointment means that big Merv Hughes can now concentrate on his tour groups without pesky selection meetings interrupting.
Already, Chappell has made comments recognising that the batting order is not getting any younger, and that players shouldn’t really be given last chances to prove themselves if there’s already someone ready to take their spot.
Chappell has also correctly stated that the focus of Test team selections is not just the all-important Ashes series, and the quest to win back the Urn, but also to ensure that Australia’s rank is back inside the top four Test nations by the time the mooted Test Championship is instigated sometime next year.
Hilditch, on the other hand, couldn’t possibly be more conservative, and has stodgily refused to drop underperforming players in much the same way Ricky Ponting sticks with his pull shot.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall when the selection discussions turn to Mike Hussey.
Hussey, to his great credit, is at least giving himself every opportunity to mount his case for retention. He was strangely criticised for not playing the WA-England three-day game, instead preferring to take his place as selected in the Aussie one-day side for the three games against Sri Lanka.
The argument that the tour match would be a better preparation for the Ashes is debateable, in my opinion, because by forgoing this game Hussey has ensured three competitive innings in various match scenarios. Had he have played the tour game, it would only have been two innings for starters, the second of which would quite likely have been in pursuit of quick runs as WA looked to set a total for England to chase.
As it turns out, WA lost 9/93 in their second innings anyway, as England successfully chased 243 with four overs up their sleeve. About the only batsman to have benefitted is England Captain Andrew Strauss, who finished 120 not out.
Hussey, on the other hand, made a classy 71* in Melbourne, 15 in the rain-affected game in Sydney while trying to up the below-par scoring rate, and finished not out again in the win in Brisbane.
The 71* in Melbourne was that classic Mike Hussey one-day innings, starting slowly before accelerating as the innings went on. While he took nearly 50 balls to break into the thirties, he went at a run-a-ball from there on as Australia managed the same feat in battling to 8/239.
Even in the short innings in Sydney he showed that he’s still hitting the ball pretty well, before ultimately being beaten in flight by the master, Muttiah Muralitharan.
So what to do about Mike Hussey?
He’s going to be doing a lot of scoreboard watching over the next week, because WA don’t play in the next set of Shield games. In fact, he won’t play again until after the Test squad is named on the 15th of November, two days before the effectively-useless next round of Shield games and the Australia A-England match in Hobart.
Should a Ferguson, Khawaja, White, or even a Smith pile on the runs in this next week, Hussey’s fate may well be decided. However if none grasp their opportunity to build a case now, then I think Hussey has shown enough in the one-dayers to hold his spot for Brisbane and Adelaide. I’d even argue he’s still in front of North, but that might just be me.
Either way, it’s a nervous week ahead for Mr Cricket.