lockyno1
Post Whore
- Messages
- 53,483
http://www.theage.com.au/news/cricket/the-door-opens-as-another-hussey-earns-national-selection/2008/01/29/1201369135509.html
January 30, 2008
David Hussey will make his Australian debut on Friday.
Photo: Paul Harris
Stump mic reveals heated words between Harbhajan Singh and Australian players.
AT 30, the same age as his brother Michael was when he was given his first Australian cap, David Hussey, the swashbuckling Victorian batsman, will take to the MCG on Friday to make his debut for his country against Twenty20 world champion India.
With an outstanding season in the Pura Cup, Ford Ranger Cup and Twenty20 competition, Hussey has developed into one of the most lethal batsmen in Australia and all but demanded selection in the national side.
He joins fellow Victorian top-order batsman Brad Hodge in the line-up for Friday. The last time Australia played a Twenty20 match, in Perth, Hodge missed the game after suffering a back spasm in the dressing room before play began..
Fittingly, Hussey was given the news of his national selection on Australia Day as he was out to dinner with a friend whose brother and sister-in-law had just had a baby.
"It was great. We were out celebrating that and it ended up being a double celebration," Hussey said of the call he received from acting chief executive Michael Brown.
"I'm nervous about it but excited as well. To be honest, I wasn't actually expecting it. When everybody keeps asking 'when are you going to play, when are you going to get picked', it gets on your mind and you start believing it a bit. I'm kind of happy it is all over with."
Hussey will have the honour of making his debut in front of what is expected to be a sellout crowd of more than 90,000 people, something that "also has the nerve going a bit, it's a big crowd".
Hussey said Michael had phoned to congratulate him from the Adelaide Oval dressing rooms but, he joked, in the Test side's post-series celebrations his brother was a little hard to understand.
"He said, 'I'm rapt for you, buddy, hope you do well'. Half an hour later he tried to ring me again but he wasn't making much sense by that stage so I had to turn the phone off after that."
Hussey, who many thought as a junior in Perth was the more talented of the brothers and the one more likely to have the game to take him to international success first, said his selection was the highlight of his career.
"This is by a mile the highlight, this and winning the Pura Cup. I can't wait, though," he said.
Victorian chairman of selectors John MacWhirter said Hussey, who is a devastating hitter, an effective off-spin bowler and a brilliant slips catch and infielder, was well worthy of his Australian cap.
Hussey averaged 47.4 in six matches in the Big Bash with a strike rate of 153.89.
"He certainly has deserved his spot in the Australian Twenty20 side and has played well enough in all forms of the game to really push his claims across the board," MacWhirter said.
"I think it is pretty obvious to all people that David over the past three years has really matured tremendously, both personally and in terms of his batting and his approach to batting.
"And although he is still a tremendously exciting player, he certainly constructs his innings extremely well."
Hussey flew to Canberra yesterday to be vice-captain of the Prime Minister's XI against Sri Lanka in a limited-overs match today.
The Australian Twenty20 side and the one-day international team for the triangular series will be officially released today.
The door opens as another Hussey earns national selection
Lyall JohnsonJanuary 30, 2008
Photo: Paul Harris
Stump mic reveals heated words between Harbhajan Singh and Australian players.
AT 30, the same age as his brother Michael was when he was given his first Australian cap, David Hussey, the swashbuckling Victorian batsman, will take to the MCG on Friday to make his debut for his country against Twenty20 world champion India.
With an outstanding season in the Pura Cup, Ford Ranger Cup and Twenty20 competition, Hussey has developed into one of the most lethal batsmen in Australia and all but demanded selection in the national side.
He joins fellow Victorian top-order batsman Brad Hodge in the line-up for Friday. The last time Australia played a Twenty20 match, in Perth, Hodge missed the game after suffering a back spasm in the dressing room before play began..
Fittingly, Hussey was given the news of his national selection on Australia Day as he was out to dinner with a friend whose brother and sister-in-law had just had a baby.
"It was great. We were out celebrating that and it ended up being a double celebration," Hussey said of the call he received from acting chief executive Michael Brown.
"I'm nervous about it but excited as well. To be honest, I wasn't actually expecting it. When everybody keeps asking 'when are you going to play, when are you going to get picked', it gets on your mind and you start believing it a bit. I'm kind of happy it is all over with."
Hussey will have the honour of making his debut in front of what is expected to be a sellout crowd of more than 90,000 people, something that "also has the nerve going a bit, it's a big crowd".
Hussey said Michael had phoned to congratulate him from the Adelaide Oval dressing rooms but, he joked, in the Test side's post-series celebrations his brother was a little hard to understand.
"He said, 'I'm rapt for you, buddy, hope you do well'. Half an hour later he tried to ring me again but he wasn't making much sense by that stage so I had to turn the phone off after that."
Hussey, who many thought as a junior in Perth was the more talented of the brothers and the one more likely to have the game to take him to international success first, said his selection was the highlight of his career.
"This is by a mile the highlight, this and winning the Pura Cup. I can't wait, though," he said.
Victorian chairman of selectors John MacWhirter said Hussey, who is a devastating hitter, an effective off-spin bowler and a brilliant slips catch and infielder, was well worthy of his Australian cap.
Hussey averaged 47.4 in six matches in the Big Bash with a strike rate of 153.89.
"He certainly has deserved his spot in the Australian Twenty20 side and has played well enough in all forms of the game to really push his claims across the board," MacWhirter said.
"I think it is pretty obvious to all people that David over the past three years has really matured tremendously, both personally and in terms of his batting and his approach to batting.
"And although he is still a tremendously exciting player, he certainly constructs his innings extremely well."
Hussey flew to Canberra yesterday to be vice-captain of the Prime Minister's XI against Sri Lanka in a limited-overs match today.
The Australian Twenty20 side and the one-day international team for the triangular series will be officially released today.
