Michael Hussey spoke on calls for young talent in Australia’s ageing side, saying Test caps must be earned through consistent performance, not just given to ‘blood someone’, amid concerns over the team’s form and future.
‘Earn That Spot’: Hussey on Test Selection
Former Australian cricketer Michael Hussey spoke on calls for more young talent to be included in an ageing Aussie side, saying that Test cricket is not a format to “blood someone” but rather one that requires earning the prestigious Baggy Green cap. He also expressed that amid hype over youngsters after a few innings, he wants to see them putting out a consistent body of work.
Concerns Over Ageing Squad and Form
The chatter around the Australian team’s age and form only grows as the playing XI across the Durban and the St George Park Tests did not feature even a single player below 30. Ahead of the final day of the second Test, Australia is just six wickets away from an embarrassing innings defeat which would level the series. The inconsistent form of batters, particularly Marnus Labuschagne and the pace trio of Mitchell Starc, skipper Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood in their mid to late 30s have caused concern among Aussie cricketing quarters about the nation’s cricketing future beyond these stars post the 2025-27 ICC World Test Championship cycle.
Pressure Must Come From Below
Speaking as quoted by Fox Sports, Hussey, one of cricket’s biggest examples of late bloomers, who received his international debut at the age of 28 and his maiden Test cap at the age of 30, said, “It is all good and well saying get rid of the 30-plus guys, but who are you going to bring in?. I have always been a believer that you don’t just blood someone in Test match cricket – they need to have earned that spot.”
Hussey also said that if someone is being picked for Tests to see if they are good enough, they are getting picked for the wrong reasons; rather, the question should be if they can win the matches right from the start.
“If you have got players that are absolutely banging the door down at the level below and putting enormous pressure on, then yeah, definitely (make changes). But if that pressure has not come consistently from below, then no, I wouldn’t be making changes just for the sake of it because someone’s 33 years of age,” he said.
“I think there’s probably only really one or two of the players that are at actual retirement age, the late 30s. The rest, I think, have still got plenty of good cricket in front of them,” he added.
Spotlight on Inconsistent Stars
Having cracked a century for the last time in the Ashes 2023 tour to the UK, Labuschagne has gone 25 Tests without a Test ton, having made 1,090 runs across 47 innings at a sub-par average of 25.34, with just nine fifties to his name and a best score of 90. During this tour to SA, he has managed scores of 37, 37, 14 and 39.
Assessing the Next Generation
Recently, a New South Wales opener cracked 253, the first Sheffield Shield double ton in almost 1,000 days, and young Aussie opener Sam Konstas also slammed a Shield ton after returning from India from an ‘A’ team tour. However, while Hussey is pleased with these performances, he wants a more consistent body of work, something he feels that discarded opener Nathan McSweeney and Kurtis Patterson have done.
‘Body of Work’ Over ‘One Innings’
“It is not just like one innings – Ollie Davies, that is one innings that he has done that,” Hussey said.
“We want to see consistent, high-level performances. It was really pleasing to see Sam Konstas score two really good scores in Perth in the recent Shield game – I think he is someone that definitely got to be on the radar, and he is starting to put a little bit of body of work together.”
“I think (Nathan) McSweeney’s definitely put a body of work together for a period of time, whether that be for South Australia or Australia A. And I think Kurtis Patterson certainly has. So there are some players there that are definitely mounting a case and putting some pressure on above.”
“But no, I do not want to see just one innings here or there. I want to see a body of work,” he signed off. (ANI)
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