Hussey's unique dressing room insights

Having spent some time in the South Africa dressing room over the past year, former Australia batsman and soon-to-be batting consultant Mike Hussey is uniquely placed to offer insights into the inner workings of the two teams.

After Australia completes their three-match T20 series against the Proteas, they head to India for the World T20 where Hussey will join Darren Lehmann's coaching staff.

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He was enlisted by South Africa in a similar role for the 2015 World Cup and then again on their tour of India late last year.

With a number of world-class batsmen in both teams, the 40-year-old understands that he isn't expected to necessarily oversee sweeping changes in technique but rather perform the role of a facilitator.

"I think once players get to international level, they probably have a pretty good understanding on what it takes to get themselves ready to play," Hussey told cricket.com.au.

"Guys like AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla know what they need to do to get themselves ready.

"You can just provide all the resources available to them to give them every chance to get what they need.

"Steve Smith is exactly the same. He knows exactly what he needs to do to get himself ready to play."

As a late-comer to international cricket, Hussey shaped his own training methods over a long period of time.

Having toiled away in domestic cricket for Western Australia for 10 years, Hussey's perseverance paid off when he was handed his Test debut against the West Indies in 2005 and he went on to play more than 300 games for his country, finishing with outstanding records in all three formats.

And while a relentless training regimen underpinned his success – Hussey once simulated an entire Test match day's play with his club coach, complete with three two-hour sessions broken up by lunch and tea breaks – he understands that the way different international batsmen prepare varies from player to player.

"AB de Villiers doesn't train a lot," Hussey said. "He just does what he needs to do and tries to tries to be mentally and physically fresh for games – that's his main focus.

"Whereas someone like Steve Smith probably hits a lot more balls than what de Villiers does."

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The transition into coaching has been smooth for Hussey.

As his remarkable career in Australian colours unfolded, 'Mr Cricket' went from debutant to established senior player quicker than most and his leadership in the final years of his career was highly valued.

Hussey feels that experience, along with the guidance he's provided to the Sydney Thunder in the KFC Big Bash League and to his Indian Premier League teams, has prepared him well for a coaching career. 

"I think in the last few years of my career, both with Australia and post-that in T20 cricket, I feel like I've been more of a player-coach anyway," he said.

"I feel like coaching is about building up good trust and relationships with other players, being empathetic with what they're going through and trying to be a good support to them.

"I've probably been learning that while I've been playing."