Hilditch faces tough call on Hussey's future

Australia's chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch has conceded that his panel will soon face one of its biggest decisions over the future of Michael Hussey. Once the rock of Australia's middle order, Hussey, 34, has battled for impact over the past year and will be under pressure to have a big home summer.

In the past 12 months he has averaged 30.40 in 15 Tests and his only century during that time came in his most recent Test - the Ashes loss at The Oval, where he made 121. He finished sixth on Australia's Ashes run tally and had a horror run against South Africa earlier in the year, averaging 19.72 in the six Tests at home and away.

His hundred at The Oval might have saved any tough calls on his future in the short term but the success of Marcus North since coming into the Test line-up has confirmed there are players at state level ready to make the next step. The big question is how long the selectors can persist with Hussey if he struggles again.

"It's been a tough 12 months [for Hussey] and it is going to be one of our biggest decisions as to really assess how he is going at the moment," Hilditch told the Courier-Mail. "It will be something we have to talk about when we meet as a selection group.

"Until we have that meeting I can't really say anything more. To the Australian group he [Hussey] is one of our core players and a great team man."

The selectors also face a dilemma over how to handle Brett Lee, who battled injury during the Ashes and didn't play a Test but has been rejuvenated in one-day and Twenty20 cricket since then. Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus formed the core of the pace attack in South Africa and England, and squeezing Lee back into the group will not be easy.

"The reality is at the start of the summer we will be in a similar position [to the end of the Ashes] - Johnson, Siddle and Hilfenhaus did a very good job for us in England," Hilditch said. "I've got every expectation they would be right in the mix for the first Test. The fact that Brett is playing good one-day cricket is helping his prospects."

Hilditch has been reappointed as Australia's chairman of selectors for two more years and he will be hoping for a less fraught time than he has experienced over the past 12 months. His panel was criticised for leaving Nathan Hauritz out of The Oval Test on a pitch that turned and Hilditch has since conceded that was the wrong call.

"We misread the pitch," he said. "We didn't expect it to turn like that. In hindsight we should have picked Hauritz."