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Ian Chappell
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Former Australia captain, now a cricket commentator and columnist
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Life after Hussey
On their next two tours, to India and England, Australia will greatly miss his skills against spin
January 13, 2013
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Michael Hussey
| Michael Clarke
| Ed Cowan
| Brad Haddin
| Monty Panesar
| Graeme Swann
| Matthew Wade
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Michael Hussey's surprise retirement announcement has left a gaping hole in the Australian line-up at a time when they can least afford it. His dependability, competitive drive and enthusiasm will be sadly missed, as will his ability to thrive after Australia suffered early setbacks. However, it's his effectiveness against spinners that the team will most struggle without in the next couple of series.
The current Indian spinners aren't among that country's most memorable. Nevertheless they are serviceable, and given the right conditions, which will more than likely be provided, they could cause Australia's batting line-up huge headaches.
Michael Clarke is the best player of spin in the Australian side, and with Hussey gone, he leads a group of batsmen who are vulnerable on turning pitches. David Warner has shown an ability to learn against spinners, as have Matthew Wade and Phillip Hughes, but they are still P platers when it comes to performing in a Test on a spinning pitch with fieldsmen crowded around the bat. The rest of the potential line-up has serious question marks against spinners.
Ed Cowan showed his shortcomings at the SCG against Sri Lanka, where he struggled mightily against steady spinners on a normal fourth-day pitch. Shane Watson is far better suited to facing the new ball first up, and Usman Khawaja has the sort of plodding footwork that can be exploited by wily spinners.
There could be a case for playing both Wade and Brad Haddin in India, with one of them in the side for his batting. Haddin is a good player of spin bowling and at this stage of his career is better than Wade standing up to the spinners. This is an important consideration as most of Wade's problems during the summer came while standing up to Nathan Lyon, and Australia can't afford to keep giving Indian batsmen second chances.
However, India will be just a warm-up in Australia's trial by spin. The following series is against England, who have a far better duo in Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, the ideal combination of right- and left-arm bowlers, spinning in opposite directions and with the potential to be England's new Jim Laker and Tony Lock.
While the English pitches may not favour spin as much as Indian ones, that's balanced by the fact that England also has a good pace attack. If Jimmy Anderson, Steve Finn and Co consistently take early wickets and Australia's middle order is exposed to England's talented pair of spinners, then Hussey will be sorely missed.
In the opening contest of the 2010-11 Ashes, Hussey waltzed down the track to Swann and continually disrupted his length, to finish with a blistering 195. I asked him why he suddenly started to use his feet against spinners when he had been loath to do so previously. He replied: "I always used to do it when I was younger but I stopped. I'm not sure why."
The important thing is, Hussey had the capability to use his feet efficiently to spinners. He'd obviously been well taught at a young age and had then taken different options. However, when he needed the slick footwork, it was still filed away in the memory bank.
On the evidence so far, none of the Australian batsmen other than Clarke and Haddin has this capability. If batsmen who haven't used their feet against spinners suddenly start trying it at the highest level, it's generally caused by panic. If the Indian spinners force some Australian batsmen into resorting to an unfamiliar tactic, then they'll likely win the battle. If that occurs, it'll be a huge headache for the Australian selectors when picking the squad for England.
Hussey, following a successful tour of India in 2008-09, had a lean time there in 2010-11. The second tour was just prior to the Ashes series at home and his lack of big scores in India may well have been the catalyst for his successfully using his feet against Swann. That shows that even reasonable players of spin bowling can struggle in India.
There was never any doubt Hussey would be missed and this could be brought home forcefully as early as Australia's next tour.
Former Australia captain Ian Chappell is now a cricket commentator and columnist
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Ian Chappell
Widely regarded as the best Australian captain of the last 50 years, Ian
Chappell moulded a team in his image: tough, positive, and fearless. Even
though Chappell sometimes risked defeat playing for a win, Australia did not lose a Test series under him between 1971 and 1975. He was an aggressive batsman himself, always ready to hook a bouncer and unafraid to use his feet against the spinners. In 1977 he played a lead role in the defection of a number of Australian players to Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket, which did not endear him to the administrators, who he regarded with contempt in any case. After retirement, he made an easy switch to television, where he has come to be known as a trenchant and fiercely independent voice.
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Australia has been struggling with spin for some time. Only Clarke can really bat to it now, none are properly bowling it and some of our keepers can neither fully read it or correctly glove it. In that respect, an Indian tour is the least of our worries. We cannot regain the number one Test ranking on our current path. We shall remain one of the better mid-ranking nations, but any notion of being the best is clearly fanciful. The Ashes, too, will no doubt feature Panesar as well as Swann, if the ECB has any clarity of thought at all. Thus, it is time to look at domestic and youth cricket and admit that spin is a problem right through the setup and a quick fix is not the answer.
The next two tours will be a real challenge for Aus. One of the problems is that India and England require two different sets of skills- playing on low, slow, turning wickets in India and swinging, seaming wickets in England. The Aus batting without Hussey is inexperienced and yet to prove itself outside Aus against quality opposition. The bowling looks better, but lack of a genuine test class second spinner will be a problem in India.
Only Clarke among the batsmen has shown the skills to succeed in both India and England. Watson has experience, but his batting has been on a downward curve the last 2 years and his fitness is an issue. The rest don't have adequate experience at test level of the conditions they will face in either country. Some will no doubt do well, but India and England are tough places to learn.
The bowlers looks better suited to England than India IF (and it's a big if at the moment) they can stay fit.
A big challenge ahead for Clarke and his men.
Maybe David Hussey could be in the squad for India. He is probably a better player of spin than some of the younger players? One of my main questions from this article is how are players meant to get better against spin unless they play against it, fail and then learn from it. Likewise, Wade keeping to spin. I guess it's a balance of wanting to pick the best team to win the series but also wanting to develop the players that have been identified as the future of the team. And perhaps introducing better training of batting/keeping against spin in the State teams if that's seen as a area that needs work.
Australia need to pick a second spinner as they're obviously going with Lyon. Smith maybe but he needs to work on his bowling and be a bowler who can bat, Maxwell needs to work on it and treat it as a test match, David Hussey could but is pretty old to bowl a lot, he could be like Sehwag and be a batter who can bowl, not mattering of age we need another spin player besides Clarke. I don't know where Hauritz went and want him back yet hes not even in the spotlight so thats a no and I don't know how people got Steve o'Keefe into their minds. When Shane Watson comes back into the side, you have to think of getting another bowler and preferably a spinner if its these sort of teams and pitches. I like how Haddin and D.Hussey are showing that they can do stuff but with age and rotation policy they probably won't be given a chance without a hundred, even though they have helped Australia massively these two ODIs.
I reckon after seeing Ponting retire Hussey decided for himself to give the next generation a go, especially with Khawaja unlikely to get a chance to fill in for Clarke. I'd love for Hussey to keep playing though, he could definitely continue. Khawaja deserves a chance and to show what he can do at the top level. Now Australia has a chance to gel in the India tests and be ready for England. The team is certainly changing, but I still think they will be just as dominant. Khawaja is our best player of swing bowling and a Clarke's replacement for the last 2 tests deserves a chance.
@ hammond Nope........ Indians have the thinnest attack in the world Even Bangladesh Can score 500 agains them
Posted byTwo words - David Hussey.
Posted by Tanos on (January 14, 2013, 7:15 GMT)I'm sorry if this has already been asked, but considering the lack of experience in the Australian batting going into a huge 12 months, why has Chris Rogers not been considered as a short term solution? Especially for in England. Slot him in, instead of playing Hughes, Khawaja and Maxwell. Or David Hussey would be a great choice to take over from his brother. England brought Trott in for the last test in 2009 and look how that turned out. Youth is great but the best players should be in to face the best opponents.
Posted by 123cric on (January 14, 2013, 5:32 GMT)A glaring example of tons of runs made in the domestic circuit and then making a successful international career. Many Indians like Rohit sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, have been given easy International Debut, they should learn from Mr. Cricket and go through the grind of domestic cricket. His work ethics, love for the game, patience and dedication has been second to none. Aussies will miss him in India and Indian crowd will also miss a champion cricketer.
Posted by sweetspot on (January 14, 2013, 5:01 GMT)Many of the comments here are based on the assumption that everybody in the world will improve, while India will remain stagnant at what is arguably their lowest point in Test cricket. Ojha and Ashwin are by no means the sort of bowlers you can just write off. A fit Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, and these two could cause serious problems if they up their game just a bit and hold it together. Whether they want it badly enough (Test cricket) is another question all together. It is India's batting that has been a cause for worry, giving nothing for their bowlers to work with. Let them pile 450-550 consistently, and then you can see the bowling attack relaxing and doing its job. More than anything, Australia will miss Hussey's familiarity with Indian conditions, thanks even more to the IPL!
Posted by SpartaArmy on (January 14, 2013, 3:02 GMT)C'mmon the current Indian players won't even make to Bangladesh team. Australia has nothing to worry about India trip. They should feel ashamed if they can't clean sweep the series with an innings win in each of them. England tour is the real challenge, Waiting for that series. Please ICC, take India out of Test cricket.
Posted byIan, there is no need for any team to worry about facing Indian spinners or pacers at the moment.. It is the English bowling that the Aussies need to worry about..
Posted by here2rock on (January 13, 2013, 23:56 GMT)Ian, I would not worry about any Indian bowler at the moment. Australian batsmen should be keen to get at the hapless Indian bowling attack. There is a chance for Michael Clarke to get another 300 plus score, the current golden run stated by the Indians at SCG last year. If your batmen are struggling then a tour of India must be on your list.
Posted by meursault on (January 13, 2013, 23:50 GMT)I agree that Cowan seems to battle against spin, but I always thought Khawaja was a pretty decent player of spin bowling. Where has Ian Chappell seen his footwork against spin being "plodding"? I hope this is not another Channel Nine cricket commentator who only closely watches cricket in the few matches that channel nine are broadcasting. Perhaps we all need to see Khawaja against spin a bit more in the ODIs being played at the moment.
Posted by hycIass on (January 13, 2013, 22:48 GMT)@Glenn Glmar Low you are spot on mate, if they were only going to pick Khawaja for 1 game only then why pick him, that just ruins his confidence, surely he should have played last night and he has to be the best replacement for Huss in the Indian series.
Posted by Jay.Raj on (January 13, 2013, 20:02 GMT)All the young guys, if you want to become a cricketer, know the history of Mr Cricket. Hardworking, patience, attendtion, concentration, athletism, humbleness, friendliness and above all this LOVE for cricket. If you are willing to put effort, you also can become a cricketer one day. Never Give up!
Posted by luks on (January 13, 2013, 17:50 GMT)How is the world did Chappell miss out on the importance of the sweep shot? Hayden mastered it and duly scored loads of runs here, same for Cook. That is the single most important thing.
Posted by davidpk on (January 13, 2013, 17:43 GMT)guys forget about players playing and doing well in the BB and good at playing spin you have more that enough T20 in your test side at the moment why add more. you will have to rely on your pace bowlers to keep the indians score down to manageable scores. apart from the captain non can play spin, you are worse than england.you will have to win the toss something that england could do apart from last test and try and score big MC will havve to do a Cook and score 500+ runs to give you a chance. next is spinners Lyon and who else i feel he will struggle unless you do score big.
Posted by sasi on (January 13, 2013, 17:33 GMT)chapllie u forgot about oz's tird tour tour to SA they will be kaned this time
Posted by davidpk on (January 13, 2013, 17:31 GMT)advin perhaps he thinks more of his young family, which as patriotic as a person can be that must come 1st. if his form dips and is dropped that would put the cat among the pigeons.
Posted by Thamara on (January 13, 2013, 17:21 GMT)I reckon there is no need to be afraid of Indian spinners. Although they have some skills, they don't know how to take wickets. Australia will definitely miss Hussey in the series against India. But I think Australia has the ability to beat India even without Hussey given the India's current form.
Posted by davidpk on (January 13, 2013, 16:43 GMT)big big loss for aus ponting was finished he would not have done anything in the ashes as england had his card marked. hussey in india and england would have done well and given the team confidence. on the switch hit were reading more into the retirement so maybe if sorted he may reconsider that retirement hope not as the aussies would need him big time as their best players other than the captain are T20 and you can not play as loose as that in the uk ask sehwag he will tell you
Posted by stormy16 on (January 13, 2013, 16:39 GMT)I dont understand this obsession for Haddin and to even suggest that Wade and Haddin should play with Haddin as a batter - Mr. Chappel I am afraid that makes no sense at all. Haddin is 35+ and nearly done and dusted so lets forget about him and have options with the rest. Wade does struggle with spinners which is a concern but not as half as much as a concern as suggesting Haddin is the solution.
Posted by tickcric on (January 13, 2013, 16:31 GMT)With India's recent performance against England its very difficult not to be cynical. But one thing is for sure Lyon is not Swann or Panesar. I think we will see higher scores from the Indian batting line up & that can be an important deciding factor. India's bowling be it spin or pace is average at best, even in home conditions. But again Australian batting might be less challenging for them as compared to the English. Still it's actually the best opportunity for the unset and inexperienced Australian batting line up to get things in order before the Ashes... India defeated New Zealand 2-0 & got defeated by England 1-2. Australia in India appears to be somewhere in between those two sides and we can expect a close series. I think though India will win it.
Posted by voma on (January 13, 2013, 14:16 GMT)India are in complete turmoil at the moment, England have beaten them with ease in the test series . Who knows whats going to happen in the ODIs , this is the perfect time for an inexperienced Australian team to tour India . As for this coming ashes tour , i think Anderson , Broad , Finn and Swann will be simply to strong for them .
Posted byAussies are in a bit of trouble, like some others have already commented the huge hole left by Ponting and Mike Hussey cannot be emphasised enough. If you notice Mike Hussey is a cricketer of Ricky Ponting's time so I guess he felt it was time to go given mostly for family reasons and also he probably didn't feel great after Ponting left and so decided to follow suit as he simply lost his apetite for the game.
Forget about the indians, if Aussies faced Pakistan at this point in time they would be massacred by the spin genius that is Saeed Ajmal - simply a class act and in my opinion the most dangerous spinner out there in world cricket at the moment.
It is true that India have some decent spinners but they are not very dangerous apart from mayb Ashwin who i gets on a role can run through with two of three in a row. Apart from him the other spinning options for India shouldn't really trouble Aussies.
England will provide alot of headache though! Thats a wrap folks :)
Posted by shelts7 on (January 13, 2013, 13:30 GMT)Has everyone forgotten about Shawn Marsh leading run scorer in BBL,very good against spin and has a great technique, very straight batter but a bit injury prone. If he has a good Sheffield shield for the rest of the summer then should be considered for the squad for England.
Posted byWade is probably returning for either a couple of the ODIs against Sri Lanka or West Indies and Haddin got injured or something in the 2nd ODI; I guess they're leaving Paine (our future) to the T20s, thats nothing! Then you have Ronchi and all these w/keepers who will not get a shot. Well obviously theres only one spot for a wkeeper but they need to give Paine something.
Posted byAs shown recently, Haddin and David Hussey could be an option for the upcoming tours against India, England etc. They have experience, in form and are both good players of spin. Australia don't really have anyone now except for Clarke who can play spin. Hughes maybe, he certainly heeld his ground against the Sri Lankans in the tests and Wade showed he could play spin but got out a lot to the sweep. I feel its a bad time and place for Khawaja and Australia isn't doing him any good by picking him and throwing him out (e.g. 1st/2nd ODIs) Khawaja must be picked to replace M. Hussey but I say bring others in the squad. Maxwell has shown impatience and needs to work on that (ODIs so far), haven't seen much of Smith from that ODI. And btw, where the hell is Hauritz? He actually dismissed top order batsmen with flight and everything, sure Lyon is unlucky with Clarke or Wade missing some but needs to work on flight and to slow down his pace or something instead of only getting tailenders out!
Posted by acnipuna on (January 13, 2013, 12:47 GMT)Hey Aussies Why don't You looking at David Hussy I think he is a good player of spin specially in India (He has played lot in IPL: Match winning Knocks) I think he is much more better than Haddin. Don't forget that you can have good 10-15 overs from him.
Posted by Antir on (January 13, 2013, 12:09 GMT)Shane Watson is not the answer to the problems in the top order. And this is article is meant to be about the number 5 & 6 position of which Chappelli obviously is correct in looking to Haddin to fill the position. Unfortunately, until some other batsmen mature the options are limited. Who should keep is the next question? Is Wade a potential Batsman only, well he is definitely doing better than Watson so that is a bonus.
Posted by Paul_Rampley on (January 13, 2013, 11:51 GMT)@Rohit_Pande, @Lewis_Taylor and Dean are spot on. Khawaja should get a crack in India. I think we will take Khawaja as the number 6 for the Indian series as he was backing up Clarke in the tests and is the in form shield batsman. Maxwell is a future prospect but at the moment neither his batting and espeically is bowling is good enough for the ashes against quality sides. For the number six spot we need a specialist batman in his own right not an untried allrounder who hasn't established his credentials as either a batsman or as a bowler at Test level. The current batting lineup is fragile enough as it is and to play England with only five specialist batsmen would be to invite certain defeat. We got the Hughes move right to replace Punter and now its time to get Khawaja in for Hussey.
Posted by cricktexpert on (January 13, 2013, 11:27 GMT)england will crush/demolish/annihilate australia 10-0...players replacing hussey and ponting are mere club crickters........
Posted by venkatesh018 on (January 13, 2013, 11:12 GMT)Astute call from Chappelly. In the absence of Hussey, Haddin and even David Hussey will be invaluable to the Aussie batting lineup.
Posted by Advin on (January 13, 2013, 10:50 GMT)Interesting.A host of Indians from Kapil Dev to Tendulkar stand accused of thinking self and hurting the team by staying on longer than necessary.Here is Hussey now thinking self and hurting his team by leaving earlier than necessary !
Posted by Thomas_George on (January 13, 2013, 10:11 GMT)Indian batting will surprise the Australian spinners and make them look better than Warne and Muralitharan considering their recent performances. I think Australians have nothing to worry about.
Posted by Fleming_Mitch on (January 13, 2013, 10:10 GMT)@Chris_Mcintoh and Rohit_Pande agree with you guys that khawaja has to be the man taking Mike Hussey's spot. Khawaja and Hughes are the future of our batting lineup and we will need both of them to be on top of their game. Its exciting times to be a batsman in domestic cricket now and these 2 are certainly the best among them. Shield cricket is the best measure of who will replace Hussey and in that Khawaja clearly is the front runner given Hughes got Punter's spot, its a shame players such as D Huss has had such a bad shield season to date otherwise he would be a strong contendor, i for one don't use his age as a barrier but like most other strong nations i.e England, India we need to build our batting attack for the future which also helps Khawaja.
Posted by Sunil_Batra on (January 13, 2013, 9:54 GMT)Surely Khawaja must take Hussey's spot, he was stand by batsman for Clarke and has been behind Hughes in shield scoring not to mention Ryobi(2nd) and Big bash scoring. I wouldn't take 2 keepers, take either Haddin or Wade but not both. For some reason commentators always find a hollow reason not to pick him, first it was his fielding which he showed in the first one day game is a myth. Now that he can't play spin, watch domestic cricket and you will see how well he sweeps the spinners and uses his feet to them.
Posted by Charlie101 on (January 13, 2013, 9:48 GMT)The problem of Aus in India will be 1. They dont have a spinner and you need 2 spinners bowling in tandem to really work and make in roads 2. Finally the indian selectors are waking up and realise that the old boys need replacing and they may face the likes of Rahane rather than a Gambir or Sehwag . India will be a better batting and fielding unit than the team that faced England .
Posted by Mary_786 on (January 13, 2013, 9:44 GMT)Noticed Haddin went off injured today, and that shoes that we must build our team for the future and get away from picking guys at 35 and 36. Khawaja should get the node for Mike Hussey and I was very surprised not to see him playing in the Adelaide one dayer as he was very unlucky to be out in the MCG game. Khawaja is a very important for the selection for the ashes. Also I am not sure if Chappell has seen Khwaaja in domestic cricket this year but under Lehman he is using his feet very well to spin.
Posted by hycIass on (January 13, 2013, 9:42 GMT)I am a fan of Ian Chappell but i disagree with him on his comments that we get Haddin in. We have to look beyond India and think of the ashes and there are not too many better batsman of swing bowling then Khawaja. He is fantastic in bowler friendly conditions, and must be given a chance to really settle into the side b4 the ashes start. I was critical of him earlier in the season but he has proven me wrong with not only runs but runs in tough conditions. Well suited to the position, and can hold an innings together.
Posted by Chickenwire on (January 13, 2013, 9:30 GMT)If anyone really thinks that England will deviate from their 6 batsmen, 4 bowler attack at home, they've another think coming. The likelihood of Swann and Panesar playing in tandem on anything other than a sub-continental burner is as remote as me getting picked for my dibbly-dobblers and amazing (lack-of) speed between the timbers.
That's not to say that the Aussies won't face at least one quality spinner over 'ere, because even if it's a green-top then it's likely Joe Root'll be facing 'em at number six, and he's 'gonna be an all-rounder'!
Posted by sony_sr on (January 13, 2013, 7:10 GMT)Don't be surprised if aus win 4-0 in india. Even bangladesh and zimbawe are having better bowling attacks.
Posted by din7 on (January 13, 2013, 7:08 GMT)Though i would love auss to beat india...but its not going to happen, they might play well and be competitive but they have no chance of winning series or either drawing it with lack of a single worldclass spinners...eng won the series cause they had two Wclass spinners in swan and monty but i dont think lyon will pose any problems again theer's lots of problem in aus battin with huss retiring..even if aus play really well they might win 1 test and nothin else.
Posted byAustralia will easily beat India nothing special will happen. Some Australian debutante will demolish team India.
Posted byAustralias chances depend on their pace attack...As there will be competetion between who takes less wickets between indian spinners and lyonn :)...Its end of era after harbhajan,warne,kumble even macgill..If Oz fast bowlers perform well there is a good chance for them..I dont see oz making many runs if MC fails..MC and Watson will have to get 100's in every inning for oz to challenge by their batting.but their 3 pace attack can surely cause huge problems..India being very brittle these days..
Posted by Hammond on (January 13, 2013, 5:29 GMT)Australia will lose easily in India because they have lost their main stabilising force in an otherwise paper thin middle order. You can't rely on MC to make all the runs and the openers won't like opening against spin bowlers like England had to. Even a really average Indian side will wipe Australia off the park in those conditions.
Posted by Akhter786 on (January 13, 2013, 4:48 GMT)Australia has begun to show the signs of panic playing against the quality spin, surely Ponting and Hussey will be missed.
the india tour followed by england tour will be the make or break for many youngesters like Hughes who was saved from the torment of Steynand Co and is now boasted of performing against menial lanlan attack, how unfair it was that Quiney was made the scape goat
Posted by indianpunter on (January 13, 2013, 4:09 GMT)Hussey chose the right time to exit, when people are still wanting to see more of him. One of my all time favourite cricketers, Huss is ! But Australia have nothing to worry for their sub continental tour. The term "indian spinner" is now an oxymoron. That species is extinct. The indian fast bowler never existed anyway. It will be 3-0 Australia. Tip for Inverarity and co- pick your left arm pace bowlers. Indians struggle against even journeymen left arm pacers ( like Mike Whitney, for eg)