Pick on performance, not potential: Hussey

Former Australia limited-overs batsman David Hussey wants to see players demand national selection with weight of runs and wickets, but praised recent successes from selectors' current focus on promoting youth.

Hussey last week called time on a 14-year career that saw him play 69 one-day internationals and 39 Twenty20 matches for Australia, scoring more than 2,500 limited-overs runs.

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The 39-year-old says he'd like more emphasis put on performances in domestic cricket when national teams are picked.

"It's a hard one, the landscape's changed so much," he told cricket.com.au. "When I first started, (the Sheffield Shield) was the best first-class competition in the world.

"You had to earn your right, you had to make lots and lots of club runs just to get a game (at domestic level).

"Once you got a game, you had to kill it in order to stay in your position in the team. 

"Now, if I was an outsider looking in I'd be thinking, 'they're just trying to pick the most talented kids and if they make a few runs, let's get them in there and see if they can sink or swim.' 

"Personally, I'd like to see players earn their stripes a little more in Shield cricket before they end up playing for Australia."

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Cameron White, Hussey's former Victoria teammate, this week claimed Australia's selectors were treating the national side as a "development team", before Interim Chairman of Selectors Trevor Hohns made headlines by labelling White's own international career as "nothing earth-shattering". 

But Hussey also praised the selection panel for some of their recent picks. 

Opener Matthew Renshaw and middle-order batsman Peter Handscomb, along with the now discarded Nic Maddinson, were whisked into the Test side to make their debuts in the wake of Australia's chastening innings hiding by South Africa in Hobart in November.

Both Renshaw and Handscomb have since cemented their positions in the Test side, with the pair looming as key players on the upcoming Test tour of India. 

And having observed in the twilight of his Bushrangers career the progress of Handscomb, as well as recent ODI sensation Marcus Stoinis, Hussey believes Australia's batting stocks are bright.

"Full credit to the selection panel for picking Renshaw, I think that was a great selection," he said.

"I think highly of (Sam) Heazlett, (Jack) Wildermuth. I think Hansdcomb, Stoinis are going to be fantastic cricketers. 

"I always joke with Pete saying, 'Every time I see you play, you're a 50 Test player, you're a gun, you're a wonder'. 

"I keep saying the same thing to Marcus Stoinis. I actually believe it but it's also about trying to give them a lot of confidence as well."

Ultimately, Hussey empathised with the difficult task selectors face in choosing between players.

He recalled how his own domestic debut, in hindsight an excellent selection considering he went on to rack up more than 14,000 first-class runs, came about after a lean trot at club level. 

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"I remember when I first got picked for Victoria, I was on a downward run of form," Hussey said. "I think I'd made 30, 20 and eight for (Victorian Premier Cricket) side Prahran. 

"(I was told) 'Oh and by the way, you're playing the next game of first-class cricket against NSW, who have Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Doug Bollinger in their attack. 

"I was like, 'Wow, I'm not good enough for this level.' 

"So do you pick them early when they're in a rich vein of form or do you wait until after they've earnt it a bit more?

"It's a difficult question to answer. I like the way (national selectors) are heading, however I would like to see players earn the right to play higher."