Australians are the greatest knockers of their sporting champions, in the world. For such a confident nation, that’s a staggering fact.
The first in my memory was the unassuming and quietly-spoken good bloke, Tony Mundine in 1974.
In an era when boxing in Australia was strong, Mundine stood out like a beacon.
Mundine was the Commonwealth middleweight and Australian heavyweight champion, boasting a record of 51 fights for 22 KOs, 21 TKOs, five wins on points, two losses, and a draw.
He was widely touted to be the second Australian world champ after bantam Jimmy Carruthers, who hit Vic Toweel with everything but the kitchen sink in Johannesburg in 1952, knocking out the South African in the first round by landing 147 blows – Toweel replied with just one, that missed.
Carruthers was an Aussie sporting icon, Mundine was set to follow in the southpaw’s footsteps.
The wave of massive national support went with Mundine to Buenos Aires to meet the defending world middleweight champ Carlos Monzon, in October 1974.
When Mundine was knocked out in the seventh, that massive support turned feral immediately: “told you he couldn’t fight, he’s got a glass jaw, no ticker”.
It was an extraordinary 180 turn, Tony was never the same again for the rest of his career that ended up with adding the Commonwealth light-heavy and Australian cruiser belts to his trophy cabinet.
With 96 fights for 80 wins (64 by KO), 15 losses, and a draw – he had a record he could be justifiably proud of. But not so for the take-no-prisoners knockers – they were relentless.
Tony Mundine never deserved such treatment, nor did Michael Hussey in the lead-up to the Ashes this summer.
“Too old, lost his run-getting ability, give the younger batsmen a go” – the knockers were in full cry.
The baggy greens lost the Ashes 3-1, but Hussey was Australia’s most successful run-getter with 570, the highest scorer with 195, with the best average – 63.33.
Hussey knocked the knockers, right out of the ball-park.
Yesterday, Hussey was roundly knocked for scoring only his third ODI century in 158 games, with the last coming just over four years ago.
That’s where the Australian knocker loses all credibility, they don’t do their homework and they dive into an empty pool.
There have been 3,158 ODIs since the first at the MCG in 1971, between Australia and England, and Hussey’s right up there with the all-time greats.
While three figures are among cricket’s most cherished milestones, consistency is more meaningful.
Of the batsmen who have played a minimum 150 digs, Hussey’s average is second only to compatriot Michael Bevan, widely acknowledged one of the most magnificent ODI strokemakers of all-time.
* Bevan – 232 matches – 6,912 runs – average 53.58.
* Hussey – 158 – 4,679 – 51.41.
* MS Dhoni – 186 – 6,049 – 48.78.
* Viv Richards – 187 – 6,721 – 47.00.
* Jacques Kallis – 314 – 11,227 – 45.45
* Sachin Tendulkar – 453 – 18,111 – 45.16.
Of Hussey’s 132 digs, 44 of them have been in excess of a 100% strike rate.
And with 81 of the 132 batting at six, or seven, it begs the question why hasn’t Hussey been given more chances higher in the order, more often?
One thing’s for sure, the knockers are way off base knocking Michael Edward Killeen Hussey . He’s 35 years and 322 days young, and still firing.
Just how many times must the knockers dive into an empty pool, before they get the message?
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