'Mr.Cricket' Michael Hussey's debut in International Cricket

Michael Hussey in action during the annual tri series in Australia

Michael Hussey made his debut at the age of 28 for Australia during the VB series in 2004. It is not easy to break in to a line up that has the likes of Hayden, Gilchrist, Ponting, Martyn, Symonds and Bevan and the mere thought of it for a 28 year old would have been daunting and would have made him give up on his dream. But Hussey was not ready to throw in the towel yet after scoring loads of runs in domestic cricket in Australia and England. Despite growing up as an opener, he established himself in the ODI side as a finisher replacing Bevan. Even in his debut, he rounded off a tricky chase for Australia as they beat India by five wickets. He remained unbeaten on 17 and got out for the very first time in only his seventh appearance.

His Test debut was even more dramatic as he had already turned 30 and had accumulated 15,000 plus runs in first class cricket. He knew that there would be no looking back if he failed, and he did wonders in the longer format as well. His Test debut was not a good one though, as he opened (due to Langer’s injury) and failed during both the innings, and later he admitted that he couldn’t even feel his legs during the national anthem. That’s how long a wait it was and Australia’s ruthless victory minus his contributions would have made him nervous, but he moved in the right direction by scoring three centuries in his next four games, thus cementing his spot.

Hussey retired from International Cricket at the end of 2012, but not before earning the nickname ‘Mr.Cricket’ for his outrageous consistency, his ability to help his side out of trouble on most occasions and because of the vast knowledge he has on the game. He won the ICC ODI player of the year award in 2006 and went on to win the World Cup the following year. He finished with a Test average of 51 and an ODI average of 48. He also played 38 T20 Internationals for his country averaging close to 38. His younger brother David Hussey has also played ODI and T20 Cricket for Australia.