Lillian Thomson
Hall of Fame Member
Botham had a six year peak where he carried the England team on his back and achieved a level of performance rarely, if at all, seen before or since. Beyond that he was the best and fastest bowler on either side in the 1985 Ashes Series, broke the world record number of wickets in 1986 and contributed a century and a 5-fer on the successful 86/87 Ashes Tour. That's a ten year period. The inference was that if he'd retired then he could be talked about as an all time great but because he carried on he can't be, which is nonsense.But in cricket, longetivity does count when judging greatness. If Hussey never gets back to his previous heights, will he go down as a great? Certainly, he was almost Bradmanesque for a few years there.
Hussey's three prolific years and one iffy one so far is neither comparable or relevant.