Michael Hussey motivated by pressure

Word has filtered through to Michael Hussey that he must get runs in Thursday's first Test. He hasn't read the papers or watched the television, but he has been sledged by the Victorians and listened to more talk than usual. A check of his stats will show he hasn't scored a century in his past six Tests and in those matches has averaged 26.

Outside the team everyone is asking him if he's playing for his place, directly and in roundabout ways. Even before a 17-man squad was picked early last week to let the senior guys know that it was time to perform or perish. Hussey is always a gentleman, almost always talking positive, but there is pain in his smiles.

"In my mind I still have the belief that I'm good enough to be in the team," he said as the team prepared in Brisbane. "But there's been a lot of speculation ... Certainly some has filtered through. It's not nice when you hear negative things or people saying you shouldn't be in the team or they seem to have lost faith in you."

Re-confirming your worth to the detractors is a common theme for the aging player. At first, runs were all that mattered, but as things wind down it's a fight to hold on to everything: the spot, the goodwill, the reputation.

"Certainly for me that's a motivating thing, trying to prove them wrong," he said. "I had to do that last year. Shane Warne was pretty outspoken in wanting me out of the team. At the end of the summer he came out and said, you've proved me wrong." Centuries used to create the most satisfying feelings.

At 35 Hussey, his sideburns flecked with grey, has to convince himself to be free and focused, which aren't always complementary aims. Throughout his career the latter has been easier to achieve. His single-mindedness turned a decade in the first-class ranks into one of the most stunning entries, a Test run which included an average of 80 more than two years after his debut.

The fun came from accumulating, but a bad Test at the Gabba could end the ride. Or the final stop might be Adelaide, or back home in Perth. It is not a series for guarantees.

He is relieved that he made the squad on the back of a second-innings century for Western Australia last week. During that display, which followed an 18-ball duck, the negative comments from the fielders "were driving me on further and further". With the batch of young players gaining interest from the national selectors, Hussey is playing for next week and beyond.

"I want to enjoy it, enjoy that pressure," he said. "I don't want to walk away at the end of my career, thinking, 'geez, I absolutely hated playing for Australia'. I want to go away knowing that I played the way I wanted to play and that I gave myself the best chance of performing well and I enjoyed every minute of it. Go away a happy man rather than having regrets."

He will not change his approach and does not think his problems are technical. If he's tentative he will struggle early, if he's positive he can live with the consequences. The last time he was under similar heat was at The Oval in 2009, when he had gone 15 Tests without a hundred. His 121 saved his spot, but not the game, with his dismissal ending the series and changing the owners of the urn.

He is a meticulous planner and is an expert at hanging on with a well-timed exertion. Does he prepare differently for a pressure innings? "No, you try not to," he said. But do you? "No, I try not to." He smiles as he repeats the answer, at the same time trying to convince himself he's right.

"I try to block out as much as I can and know what worked in the past. Stick to my game plans. Half the challenge is to block out all the external distractions that go on. It's definitely been a lot tougher [this time]."

While England have experienced a flawless preparation for the Ashes, Australia's travels have been as bumpy as a landing on a rural airstrip. The hosts lost seven matches in a row in all forms of the game before succeeding in a dead ODI against Sri Lanka in Brisbane at the start of the month. England have skipped across the country, getting all their men in some form, at the same time as their stuttering opponents have picked up injuries and stinging criticism.

"It's been perceivably up and down," Hussey said of Australia's recent results. "But I actually think we've been going really well. Even in India, we played some fantastic Test cricket ... It's more been external stuff causing conjecture. Within the team our plans are really specific.

"When there's a lot of pressure, a lot of speculation and tension, that sometimes brings out the best in players, and you know if you can stick together tight as a team, you can always turn in a positive direction." Keep the faith, retain your spot, win the Ashes. That's the theory.