Mike Hussey - Is he now human?

[JBH001]

Well, why did you bring up the point about Waugh being good against spin if he was getting out to seamers? Seems an irrelevant point to me.

Probably a carry over from conventional understanding that has SL as a spinners paradise and that Waugh as a good player of spin bowling should not have been getting out so much for so little as a result. In any case, SL as a spinners paradise is historically inaccurate. It became more so in the late 90's and into most of the 2000s (although recent pitches have been difficult even for Murali because of their slow and low nature - as in the recent tests against England) but, iirc, pitches were a lot more sporting and diverse in the 80s and well into the 90's.

 

[JBH001]

Always been amazed at the fact that Warne and Murali (both utter novices) faced-off in that series, when I found-out. So wish there was some footage of it (which, as I say above, I've always been led to believe there was not).

If anyone had told you that you were watching the two wristspinners who would one day twirl their way to the top of the Test wicket-taking pile, leaving all others far behind, you'd have laughed, as each played second-fiddle to a middling fingerspinner in Anurasiri and Matthews respectibly.

Haha, yeah. I certainly had no inkling of any of that when watching the series (it was a good and enjoyable series too from recollection). Warne really did conjure three wickets out of nowhere on the last day at the SSC to head off a certain draw (and perhaps even save his career). You could say he had it, even then.

 

[Top_Cat]

You said 27 months ago that that series wasn't televised.

It wasn't on free-to-air that's for sure. I've seen footage, though. Distinctly remember seeing Warne take 3-1 or whatever it was and seeing Mark Waugh's dismissals and pretty sure I saw more than that.

 

[Richard]

Well, why did you bring up the point about Waugh being good against spin if he was getting out to seamers? Seems an irrelevant point to me.

Probably a carry over from conventional understanding that has SL as a spinners paradise and that Waugh as a good player of spin bowling should not have been getting out so much for so little as a result.

Pretty much.

 

[Mister Wright]

Pretty much.

Meh, cbf.

 

[Precambrian]

Only Ponting, Hussey and Lee really, and even then its not do or die for them. Probably Stuart Clark too actually. Can't really see how Clarke, Hayden, Haddin, Katich or even Jaques will be categorically said to be 'good' or 'not' based on this series.

I think that a poor performance in the series will place these players places under scrutiny. But that begs the question, are the replacements good enough?

 

[pasag]

I think that a poor performance in the series will place these players places under scrutiny. But that begs the question, are the replacements good enough?

The Australian batting lineup besides the role of Hayden's partner is pretty much set in stone at the moment, more or less.

 

[Migara]

I could be wrong, but I seem to remember Waugh's poor run in Sri Lanka was getting out to the seamers and not the spinners.

IIRC Murali and Rangana Herath amde him look foolish second time around.

 

[Precambrian]

Micheal Hussey (the last 19 tests) (Since India's tour of Aus 2007-08)

Played : 19
Innings : 34
NO : 2
Runs : 1106
Avg : 34.56
SR : 42

He's not even looking human but grade level. Poor stats those. And if you consider his last 15 tests, the figures are even vulgar:

Played : 15
Innings : 27
NO : 1
Runs : 814
Avg : 31.30
SR : 40
100s : 1
50s : 6

Time to drop him???

 

[honestbharani]

no way... He is still class..


Good enough to average 50 over his test career.,..

 

[stephen]

Micheal Hussey (the last 19 tests) (Since India's tour of Aus 2007-08)

Played : 19
Innings : 34
NO : 2
Runs : 1106
Avg : 34.56
SR : 42

He's not even looking human but grade level. Poor stats those. And if you consider his last 15 tests, the figures are even vulgar:

Played : 15
Innings : 27
NO : 1
Runs : 814
Avg : 31.30
SR : 40
100s : 1
50s : 6

Time to drop him???

His career may parallel that of Hayden's in 2005 - an extended run of poor form with a century in the last test, securing his spot and triggering another golden run of form.

 

[Precambrian]

His career may parallel that of Hayden's in 2005 - an extended run of poor form with a century in the last test, securing his spot and triggering another golden run of form.

The difference is Hayden never really had such an elongated slump, in terms of the period.

 

[Furball]

The difference is Hayden never really had such an elongated slump, in terms of the period.

Try looking at Hayden's form in the 2 years before the 2005 Ashes.

 

[Precambrian]

Try looking at Hayden's form in the 2 years before the 2005 Ashes.

His form slumped only for two seasons - 2004.05 and 05

 

[SJS]

Of course he is human - he always was. In the stats mad cricket world of today, we just assigned the superhuman attributes to him. He never was superhuman. It is not the first time a player has had a fantastic twenty odd games and then come down to normal levels. The same is also true in reverse. There are players who have a poor start to their careers and more than make up later.

Here are examples of those with Hussey like starts. I know the figures are slightly lower but the point is that despite a great start a player can drop 25-30% in average. I have taken a cut off of 20 Tests for the start for I think that is a reasonable number and most eligibility criteria for comparisons use it.

Javed Miandad

• At end of 22 Tests : 71.7
• Career (124 Tests) : 52.6

Frank Worrell

• At end of 22 Tests : 63.7
• Career (41 Tests) : 49.5

Doug Walters

• At end of 22 Tests : 64.7
• Career (74 Tests) : 48.3

I am sure there are others. The surprise is not that his average has come down to 56 but that some thought he was the next thing after Bradman. Inspite of the high average he was having, he never looked as if he was in a league of his own on the basis of his game. Stats can be very misleading either way but who wants to believe that

 

[pup11]

Mike Hussey is not the most naturally gifted player that one would come across, its his hard-work and perseverance that turned him into Mr.Cricket, atm things aren't looking that good for him, but I back Hussey to make a strong comeback from this position, he is a bloke who sets very high standards for himself, and this current run of form though was pretty inevitable, but would still be hurting him nonetheless.

Dropping Hussey would be diabolical, he still has two or three years left in him, but things could start getting hot for him under the collar, if similar form haunts him right through the Ashes series.

 

[pasag]

Dancer, tbh.

 

[Dissector]

I am sure there are others.

Neil Harvey comes to mind though not necessarily with the 22 test mark. At that point he still had an excellent average of 61 which eventually slid down to 48. However after 9 tests he averaged 107 and of course that was around the time Bradman retired. He was only 21 years at that time and I can't imagine how difficult it would have been handling the expectations.