Being Mr. Cricket

However,as can be expected when you put a collection of the world’s biggest superstars under one roof — literally — there’s a bit of muscle-flexing going on.

In the Telstra Dome in Melbourne,Shahid Afridi and Andrew Flintoff are trying to hit the retractable ceiling. They’re being fed long hops and half-volleys by a galaxy of all-stars willing the ball skywards,but even for two of the biggest sets of biceps in the game,it seems a shot too big to pull off.

Impossible may be nothing,but if Afridi and Flintoff can’t,who can? The next day,Michael Hussey’s facing Makhaya Ntini in the third one-dayer and sends one soaring up; and there it is — casual,inevitable — the distant,echoing ping of ball connecting with fibreglass.

It’s almost like you don’t notice him. If you think he’s batting on 10,he’s probably on 40. He had to score 15,313 first-class runs before finally making it to the Australian middle order,and has smashed over 3000 runs each in both Tests and one-dayers since; but incredibly,even today,Hussey retains the uncanny ability to slide under the radar.

Ahead of the one-day series between India and Australia,with Brett Lee talking up a 7-0 result,Mitchell Johnson dreaming of opening the batting and Ricky Ponting attempting to fit into underdog clothing,the spotlight has stayed away from Hussey.

“Michael is a quality player,” says Simon Katich,who has spent a fair amount of time watching from the other end and should know. “He is a great batsman and knows his game really well. I am sure Michael will be scoring big runs in the upcoming series against India.”

In the absence of Michael Clarke,the visiting batting line-up looks shaky on paper,even if they were strong enough to lift the ICC Champions Trophy recently. And on Hussey’s broad,and peculiarly hunched,shoulders will lie a lot of the responsibility to pull a young side through in alien conditions.

It’s a challenge he will relish as well. He’s scoring runs again,and he knows how to make it count. The slump,he’s convinced,is behind him.

Up and down
When he sat in the visitors’ dressing room at The Oval three months ago with tears streaming down his face,it couldn’t have been just the agony of losing successive Ashes in England — there had to be relief mixed in there as well.

Over five years in international cricket,he had nudged,cut and driven through the off-side,whipped,flicked and pulled through the leg-side; he had dug in when his team needed it,and lashed out when the situation demanded,motoring along to a record that defied most things cricket. His Test average at the start of 2008 stood at an immense 80.58 and his one-day average after 40 innings was 80.21 (After his first 25,it was a ridiculous 125). At the crease,he had become the immovable object,he had become Mr Cricket.

“At the start of my international career I couldn’t believe those averages myself,” Hussey said after landing in India this week. “I knew it wouldn’t last.”

And it didn’t. The last 12 months haven’t been easy. Against South Africa at home,he averaged 17. In the series away,he took it up a few notches to 22,ahead only of Peter Siddle,Ben Hilfenhaus and Bryce McGain. Before his final innings of the see-sawing Ashes,his run of scores was 3,51,27,0,64,10 and 0. It had been almost 30 innings since he had hit the three-figure mark and both his Test and one-day batting averages had come down into the mere-mortal 50s.

Then for 328 minutes and 263 balls at The Oval,he fought to keep Australia in a 546-run chase (impossible is something?),fought the demons in his head and,by most accounts in the Australian media,fought for his place in the side.

He finally fell for 121,the team folded up for 348,and the Ashes were lost. But Hussey,at least,had survived. “Luck’s needed to get the runs,” he admits. “Plenty of times during the Ashes,I saw things didn’t work out and I found myself suddenly in the pavilion. I had a bit of luck at The Oval when I was dropped on 55,and went on to score a 100.

“It has taken huge discipline in terms of skills,tactics,diet,fitness and technique to build this career and keep playing. I’m pretty philosophical about the slump. Playing cricket is a long journey and you make mistakes along the way and then you learn from them. I’ve made and learnt from mine. Over the years,you find the way that works best for you.”

The guiding light
It’s a very different Australian team that will walk out to the field in Vadodara today. The team sheet doesn’t send shivers down the spine,the skipper’s all smiles and the pre-series mind games are either missing or stunningly disguised — it’s hard not to be suspicious when an Australian player says there will be no sledging.

The average age of the squad is around 28,and as many as of 10 of the 15 players are on the sprightlier side of 30 (with another,Adam Voges,having turned 30 one week ago). They have struggled off and on as a unit over the last year-and-a-half,but the Champions Trophy triumph proved that they were still getting more things right than most.

The team has been in transition,as has Hussey’s role in it. Where he used to finish at numbers six and seven,he now shepherds at numbers four and five. In the must-win Champions Trophy clash against Pakistan,it was Hussey’s dismissal for 64 on a tricky pitch that sparked panic in the ranks,even though the lower order sneaked through to the semi-finals with a last-ball victory.

“He’s experienced and has been around for a very long time,” Australian coach Tim Nielsen says. “He brings a lot to the team with his impeccable attitude and personality.”

Shane Watson puts it more succinctly: “When Hussey’s scoring runs,you know Australia are doing well.”

Having only got his own chance when he was 28,Hussey’s pleased to slip into elder statesman duties. “It’s good for youngsters in the current Australian team that they are doing well,” he says. “I would’ve loved the opportunity to have come early as well. But it was very difficult to get into the Australian side then. I know how hard you have to work to get into the team,so I never take it for granted.”

He’s been making up for lost time ever since he guided his team to a five-wicket win on his one-day debut,at Perth against India,but despite racking up those insane statistics,he insists it never really was about the numbers. “I don’t really take notice of averages so much. For me the biggest high is winning matches for Australia. I don’t really sit and think about the stats.”

The last time Australia played a one-day series in India — against Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s newly crowned Twenty20 world champions in 2007 — they ended up 4-2 winners with a team as raw as this one. Hussey was one of the players who missed out,a hamstring injury ruling him out at the last minute,giving him more reasons than one to pull his weight this time around.

Having been grounded for a while now,he says he’s ready to take off again. “The coming year,I will look for more consistency.” The sky has,after all,always been the limit for him; not retractable roofs in makeshift cricket stadiums.

(with inputs from Bharat Sundaresan and Shailendra Awasthi)

View from the camp
“As a coach,it bothers you when a player is going through a rough patch. This is happening to Hussey for the first time,it happens to all players. It’s just part of playing at the highest level. He’s had a bad time,but he’s coming out on the other side of the dark tunnel. It is to the selectors’ credit that they’ve persisted with him. We are now getting at a stage when he is playing the way he was 12 months back.”

Tim Nielsen
Australia coach

“He has done well in one-day cricket,especially in South Africa and England. As they say,form is temporary but class is permanent and I’m sure he will score a lot of runs in the series against India.”

Simon Katich
Australia batsman

“Hussey’s definitely someone who is very important to Australia’s success. He’s always a calm presence lower down in the innings,and he can be flexible in his approach. When you need it,he can build an innings,and when necessary,he can take down bowlers at the end of the innings.”

Shane Watson
Australia all-rounder

“I will put Bevan and Hussey on the same level (as finishers). They batted at similar spots in our line-up,and are guys recognised as players who finish games for you. When you bat at number six or seven in one-day cricket,the responsibility is more on to finish games. I think Bevan was outstanding in that,he was a terrific player. His ability of winning games from crucial situations made him a special player,and Hussey has a similar mindset.”

Ricky Ponting
Australia captain

I don’t take much notice of what critics are saying’
On his long run of poor form:
The slump is all about perception. I feel I was batting quite well,even if the runs were not coming. Mentally I stayed strong,and I trusted my game which had worked for me all these years. I kept preparing well and got good starts even when the runs were not coming. I’d thought England and South Africa were going to be the big series for me,but it didn’t happen.

On the criticism in the media and how he dealt with it:
I don’t know if I’ve been judged too harshly,and I don’t take much notice of what the media and critics say. It’s not like I don’t read newspapers — I like to know what’s happening around the world,but I don’t read criticism about myself. There’s enough pressure and distractions out there without having to take more from media. When people start criticising,all you can do is play well and make them eat humble pie. The mental side plays a huge role when dealing with slumps.

On the nickname Mr Cricket:
I don’t think I’m the only one,there are plenty of other Mr Crickets who are equally dedicated to the sport. Ponting loves the game,and even Shane Warne used to spend hours watching videos. I’m just stuck with the tag of Mr Cricket,I guess.

On shifting gears:
I play according to the situation,and what the team expects out of me. I can resurrect,or slog the ball to every part of the ground. It is a unique thrill and the greatest challenge to do well for the Australian middle-order.

On comparisons often drawn with Michael Bevan:
I don’t put myself in the same class as Bevan. His record and average as a finisher is phenomenal and speaks for itself. But,like him,I look at how you can win games. I’ve watched a lot of Bevan games,and he’s spoken to me a few times about what to do.