Hussey offers new threat

Hussey will pose a new threat to the tourists © Getty Images

Mike Hussey has been the scourge of English bowlers for years in county cricket. Soon he is set to face England’s Test attack for the first time as he seeks to help Australia regain the Ashes.

The 31-year-old would have been entitled to feel he could have done better than some of his fellow countrymen as they struggled in English conditions during the 2005 series.

Hussey scored thousands of runs on the county circuit, including triple-hundreds for Northamptonshire, Durham and Gloucestershire, as he waited patiently for his chance to represent his country.

Only after Australia lost possession of the urn did that chance come and he has grabbed it with both hands.

The Western Australian was finally granted a belated Test debut against West Indies at Brisbane last November and he has already made history, consigning the feats of England's Andrew Strauss to second place in the record books.

Hussey took just 166 days to become the fastest player ever to 1,000 Test match runs - and while that is a mark destined to be bettered again and again in this era of matches scheduled as regularly as rush-hour buses, an average of 75.93 from 19 innings so far is a fair indication of a significant talent.

Hussey's skills are highly adaptable too, his ability to play the ball late into gaps thanks to outstanding footwork and deft control of the blade a huge asset in all forms of cricket.

Mike Hussey in Test action for Australia © Getty Images

This ability earned him a one-day international debut in February 2004 against India on his 'home' ground of Perth.

By the time Australia arrived in England for the NatWest Series early last summer, Hussey was beginning to convince the selectors he was part of their best team - and after he had topped the runs aggregate and averages with 227 at 75.66, there was no longer much room for argument otherwise.

Still, however, Hussey was out in the cold when it came to Test cricket.

Australia were confident - after years of unbroken success - they had the measure of England without any need to change their playing staff.

When they left two months later, as Ashes losers for the first time in 18 years, they did so with an urgent brief to work out what had gone wrong and make sure they put it right by the time of the rematch this winter.

Australia refused to panic, of course, and all of those who failed collectively in 2005 - even a small clutch of players whose services were
shelved temporarily - are back with a chance to put the record straight.

They are joined, though, by Hussey - as well as all-rounder and NatWest man of the series Andrew Symonds.

Of the pair, Hussey is the one who can be most confident his time at last has come.

If his batsmanship was honed in England, he learned plenty about leadership while captain of Northants too - and such has been Australia's recognition of his calibre, he has already deputised once for Ricky Ponting during the triangular DLF Cup in Malaysia.

Hussey's rise to prominence - delayed for so long by the might of those in the squad ahead of him - has been little short of meteoric.