England still bat strong - Hussey

Mike Hussey pads up at Wantage Road as he prepares to captain Australia against old county Northamptonshire

Mike Hussey rates the loss of “lynchpin” batsman Kevin Pietersen as a major blow to England’s Ashes credentials, but remains wary of the threat posed by his replacement.

Hussey, who will lead his country out in a three-day match against his old county Northamptonshire tomorrow, has provided reaction from the Australia camp to yesterday’s bombshell that England’s mercurial match-winner will play no further part in the 2009 npower Ashes series.

Following surgery on his Achilles, Pietersen must draw stumps for the summer. It is a setback the man himself has described as “devastating” and is being portrayed by many as a probable turning point in a series England lead 1-0, following last week’s overdue victory at Lord’s, with three matches to play.

Hussey appears mindful of bad-taste gloating at an opponent’s misfortune, as well as the danger of under-estimating whoever comes in for England’s number four.

“It’s going to be a big loss to the England team - Pietersen has obviously been a quality batsman for a long period of time. They’re definitely going to miss him.

“It is a boost for us. He’s played well for a long time, and done it against Australia, and is probably the lynchpin of that batting order.

“Not having him there has to be a plus for us.

“They’ve got some pretty good replacements who can come in and do a very good job and can score hundreds in Test matches - so we can’t think it is going to be any easier,” he warns.

“If you lose one player, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to win or lose the series from then on.

“Certainly in the England team, as in ours, they have had different blokes contributing.”

Invited to claim a preference on behalf of the Australian attack - one Peter Siddle has already professed - for bowling at Ian Bell rather than Pietersen, Hussey answered: “I don’t like to make any calls like that.

“In sport, and particularly in cricket, it has a way of coming back and biting you from behind.

“Bell is a quality player, who has played very well for England before. We’re going to give him the same respect we give all the England batsmen.”

There is no shortage of Australian respect either for England’s other injury-hit hero Andrew Flintoff - especially after his man-of-the-match performance and maiden Lord’s five-wicket haul last week.

Hussey, Flintoff’s only first-innings victim at HQ, simply believes there was little Australia could have done to resist the all-rounder’s juggernaut fast bowling there.

Hussey, unfortunate to be given out second time at Lord's, is tasked with smoothing out any problems in the tour game

Unlike Pietersen, Flintoff is still hoping to finish the summer - despite the knee injury which will end his Test career immediately afterwards.

Hussey’s only hope is that he somehow will not be in such devastating form in the third match of the npower series in Birmingham next week.

“He had a great Test match at Lord’s, bowled brilliantly throughout,” said the Australia number four.

“I don’t know if we could have done a hell of a lot different against him. But we hope it’s our turn to get on top of him in the next one.”

Australia themselves have form as well as fitness concerns to address before Edgbaston.

Fast bowler Brett Lee’s chances of being available in time after his side strain seem slim, and he will play no part against Northants at Wantage Road.

His pace partner Mitchell Johnson is fit but not firing, and it will be high on Hussey’s brief - in the absence of the rested Ricky Ponting - to give the left-armer every opportunity to establish some much-needed bowling rhythm.

Hussey, however, is content to assess the bigger picture of where Australia went wrong at Lord’s and how to get back on track.

“It’s pretty simple stuff. We didn’t play well enough for long periods of time,” he said. “That’s what we’ve prided ourselves on, in the (drawn) first Test in Cardiff and the (winter) wins against South Africa.

“We need to get back to doing those basics very, very well. If we can do that I think we can put England under a lot of pressure and I think we can beat them.”

Australia squad to face Northamptonshire at Wantage Road from tomorrow: Mike Hussey (captain), Simon Katich, Phillip Hughes, Shane Watson, Marcus North, Andrew McDonald, Mitchell Johnson, Graham Manou (wkt), Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle, Stuart Clark, Ben Hilfenhaus.