No-one made more runs before being handed a baggy green cap than Michael Hussey,
and it is highly likely that no-one ever will have to again. In
addition to leaving an enormous hole in Australia's batting order,
Hussey's exit from the game at 37 also poses a major question about the
development of players capable of filling it.
Was Hussey robbed of an even more illustrious career by a selection
panel that scorned his talents until he was 30, or was the wonderfully
dextrous and adaptable player he became a direct result of all those
years spent honing his game for the opportunity? As he looked forward to
more time at home, though he will continue to play for Western
Australia and Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, Hussey said he wished he
had been given an earlier chance, but reasoned that the completeness of
his game and the maturity of his approach stemmed from the extra time he
was left to shape it.
"I would've loved to get an opportunity earlier, there's no question
about that," Hussey said. "I would've maybe liked to go through what
young players go through at international level where you come in,
you're so excited to be there, probably go through some hard times and
then come out the other side a batter player.
"But in a lot of ways it probably did help me to be able to perform
consistently at international level, to have so much first-class cricket
behind me. To learn about the game and learn about batting and learn
about myself as a person, I think held me in very good stead when I came
to the international game when there's so many distractions externally,
to be able to put them aside and concentration my game. Knowing what
worked for me helped me definitely."
With Hussey soon to be gone from the team, Australia's selectors are
left to pick from the meagre batting options they have left. Usman
Khawaja is part of the current squad and has worked at rounding out his
game in the manner of Hussey, while the Twenty20 captain George Bailey
has a fighter's instinct and a leader's brain and attitude, if not quite
the record of batting achievement that suggests he will make as instant
an impression at 30 as Hussey did after he debuted in 2005.
Hussey himself believes his 35-year-old brother David deserves a chance,
while Chris Rogers is of the same age and the possessor of endless
first-class experience in England. Other young batsmen like Joe Burns in
Queensland, Kurtis Patterson in New South Wales, Alex Doolan in
Tasmania and Peter Handscomb in Victoria will in time press their
claims, but their readiness for international cricket and all its myriad
challenges will depend on how - and for how long - they are groomed.
A major reason for Hussey's exit is that he is no longer prepared to
separate himself from his family for the long tracts of time required by
international tours, but another is the wearing down effect of Test
match pressure, be it from opponents, media, supporters, team-mates and
the man himself. The support Hussey has been given from the likes of his
first-grade batting coach Ian Keevan, the former Northants coach Bob
Carter, and his wife Amy allowed him to push through much of it, and
those relationships were also built up over the years he spent waiting
for his chance.
"There's so much pressure, stress and tension around international
cricket, on all the guys," Hussey said. "I'm amazed how the guys handle
it at times. But I think it's very important to have a good support
network around you, people who keep believing in you all the time, and
keep you in a positive frame of mind when sometimes it's quite easy to
get yourself down and put more pressure on yourself. I'm very lucky to
have that network around me that've remained really positive and
confident and believed in me.
"It's a little bit sad and I will miss certain parts of it. But there's
so much more to life than just playing cricket, and I have those
fantastic memories, but there's going to be a lot of things I certainly
won't miss, like the really sick feeling in the stomach when you have to
go out and bat in a Test match, the constant time away from home,
training, travel, hotels and airports. It does wear you down after a
while.
"It's taken me a long time to learn how I play my best cricket. It's
going to be different for everyone, but for me personally when I do
relax, when I do enjoy the game I just stick to my very good
preparation, and I just know and believe I will perform."
Hussey's final summer has been played without the self-imposed
expectations he had previously lived with, for he knew that retirement
at the end of the season was always his most likely path. That allowed
him to relax and play his best, just as he did not gain a start for
Australia until after he had virtually given up hope of earning one.
"I do feel like the pressure's been off a little bit," he said. "I was
very keen to do well in this particular summer. Like every summer I
guess. But I felt like I could go out there with nothing to lose a
little bit because I knew in my own mind that it was probably going to
come to an end at the end of the Australian summer.
"So I could play with a bit more freedom and just go out there and
relax. Maybe there is a lesson in there to be learnt - I have always
been someone that has put a lot of pressure on myself and tried
sometimes too hard and when you just relax and play and enjoy the game,
that's when I've played my best cricket."
There is a lesson in that for all those who will follow Hussey into
Australia's Test team, one of many that can be learned from observing
the career and achievements of a cricketer who tried to - and usually
did - do everything right.
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