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.
Jacob Romani-Phillips
Roar Rookie
Great article. I've been pining for Hussey to be included in the test team for a while now, although it is abundantly clear that (for whatever reason), It won't happen. IMO he definitely is one of the unluckiest players, but also one of the most underrated, in comparison to the Marsh brothers (particularly Mitchell) who have got to be the most overrated players going around, but I digress. I've often found it funny how people wax lyrical over younger players like Hughes, Khawaja and the aforementioned Marsh's, when you have Hussey, who a short while ago was averaging mid-50's. I think last season's poor performance could perhaps be partly attributed to the fact that it's hard to keep giving your all when you're continually ignored by the selector's in favour of lesser, middle of the road players. In hindsight, I think David would have been a perfect replacement for his brother in the middle order, picking up where Mike left off in providing a solid partnership to Pup (the 2011/12 India home series springs to mind).
Rob McLean
Guest
Jamie Siddons most unlucky ever, played 1 ODI match, got terribly sick in Pakistan, lost his chance, no test cricket Mark Lavender was a quality batsmen. Yes James Brayshaw was damn good, much better than Ed Cowan. Maybe Greg Rowell - no Dennis Hickey - no Phil Alley - no Shane George - no Jamie Cox - yes Dean Hills - maybe Adrian Tucker - no Craig Howard - who? Dirk Tazeler
Rob
Guest
His biggest mistake after leaving WA was to go and play for Victoria.. If he had ventured to NSW he would have been a dead set certainty to represent Australia! (and would have been afforded quite a few failures to consolidate his spot in the team)
cwrigh13
Guest
+1. Couldn't agree more!
cwrigh13
Guest
Not necessarily.
cwrigh13
Guest
I also remember Jones as a commentator making some rather derogatory comments about black South African players, which (at that stage) put an end to his commentary career. Perhaps a bad attitude is what cost Dean Jones his career. IMHO being a good team fit is almost just as important as your batting/bowling averages. I also remember Graham Manou being kicked out of a touring squad (perhaps to India) for not fitting into the squad, and having an argument (coincidentally) with D. Hussey.
JGK
Roar Guru
My take on Hussey is that he was no where near as good in Australian conditions as he was in England (a few brilliant Shield knocks notwithstanding). His main problem was that whenever there was a vacancy in the Aust side, he was never in form and someone else got a look in. That might say something about his temperament (I always thought from his ODI career that me might not have been as mentally tough as he could have been) but ultimately, you need to take your chances when they appear. As someone noted above, he probably only needed to average 40 in the Shield last year and he would have been on the Ashes Tour.
Armchair Expert
Guest
OK Ronan, 96-97 2nd innings Sydney test given out cHealy but didn't carry, 05-06 1st innins Perth given out lbw bLee , going over stumps, 05-06 1st innings Hobart given out lbw bLee, going down leg side, 05-06 2nd innings Hobart given out cGilchrist, no bat but came off his pad. (I can't count he infamous Steve Waugh catch because that was in the West Indies) The other interesting thing in the 05-06 WI series was the Adelaide teat 2nd test match report which mentioned Matthew Hayden edging to 1st slip in the 2nd innings and refusing to walk on being given not out, according to some Australians, he cheated. ps I'm an Australian, like the Broad episode, it was bad umpiring, not cheating, cheers.
Ben
Guest
Brad Hodge is probably the most unlucky Australian Sportsmen of this era (let alone just cricket). Obvious other ones include James Hopes and Chris Hartley (and pretty much every other QLD players).
ChrisUK
Guest
Oh sure - otherwise I'd have said I was on Cricinfo... I am mentioned in Wisden mind!
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Now that's being a bit generous
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
What are the rest Armchair Expert?
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Yeah it has been reimagined by many that he was an absolute gun for years and was denied a debut but for most of his 20s he was nothing more than a solid Shield player.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Haha you'd think so although he could be a Warney type and prefer spaghetti on toast wherever he goes.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Yeah thinking of Law. Those were the days we could give debuts to two guys in a Test and they were the quality of Ponting (makes 96) and Law (50-odd not out).
Armchair Expert
Guest
Ronan's probably thinking of Stuart Law.
josh
Roar Rookie
Dean Waugh was unlucky too.
josh
Roar Rookie
A stomach to handle international cuisine?
josh
Roar Rookie
Love has a test average of 46. Scored 100* in his last innings. Might be the only player who in their last two innings scored 0 and a century. But he only played 5 tests. Each time as a stop gap measure.
Armchair Expert
Guest
Lara was also unfortunate playing in Australia, I recall at least 5 times in tests when he was given out when he was clearly not, starting with the Ian Healy "stumping" in Brisbane in 92-93.