Hussey to give Aussie bats a boost

Former Australia batsman Mike Hussey will be looking to impart some of his knowledge of local conditions when he joins Australia’s coaching staff for the World Twenty20 in India as a batting consultant.

Hussey travels to India next week where he link up with the side following their short T20 series in South Africa, beginning Friday night, as they look to claim a piece of silverware that eluded Hussey four times.

The left-hander was a vital member of Australia’s T20 batting line-up in the 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012 editions of the World T20 and overall played in 39 T20 Internationals, finishing with an excellent average of 38.

But perhaps more important than his short-format experience is his knowledge of subcontinental conditions, having played in seven seasons of the Indian Premier League.

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And Hussey says that although adjusting to the local pitches will be difficult for the Australia batsmen, he is confident of their batting prowess.

“The conditions are always challenging in India, there’s no doubt about that,” he told cricket.com.au.

“They’re probably the most foreign conditions that we have, coming from Australia where we’re used to pace and bounce.

“They’ll face a lot of spin through the middle overs so hopefully we can play the spinners as well as we possibly can.

“There’s so much talent and ability and power in that Australian squad, that I’m pretty sure we can adapt to any conditions that are thrown at us.”

While a lot has been said about the likelihood of turning wickets being prevalent in the tournament, Hussey suggested that batsmen need to be prepared to play on a variety of surfaces.

“My experience of playing in India is that (pitches) change quite a lot depending on where you play," he added.

“When you play at somewhere like Mumbai, the pitch has got plenty of pace and bounce. The ball comes through and it’s more like an Australian pitch.

“But then you might play a game in Kolkata and the pitches I’ve played on there have been really slow and have turned a lot.

“That’s one of the things that players will have to deal with – you’ve got to adapt to different conditions.”

Adaptability will be crucial for Australia’s batsmen, just as it will it be for Hussey, who is stepping into a coaching career after his fairytale finish with the Sydney Thunder in the KFC Big Bash League, where he captained the lime-green side to their inaugural title in his farewell season.

‘Mr Cricket’ has dipped his toes into the water of international coaching, having been involved as a batting consultant with South Africa during last year’s ODI World Cup as well as on their tour of India later that year.

But he recognises the magnitude of work required from international coaches and says that the type of short-term positions he’s had with South Africa, and now has with Australia, are a good way to see if he’s suited to coaching.

“I think consultancy roles are ideal,” Hussey said. “I marvel at the coaches these days with the amount of time and effort they have to put in. It’s a huge job and a lot of the time you’re away from home and on the road.

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“That’s one of the reasons I retired – I didn’t want to be on the road for that amount of time.

“That’s where these consultancy roles have been good for me so far.

“I do enjoy the coaching side of the game, but (as a consultant) you’re only away for two or three weeks at a time whereas the coaches that are there full-time are away for months on end.

“As I grow as a coach, I’ll probably get a better feel as to whether it’s a path I want to go down or not.

“I do enjoy it, I must admit, but I wouldn’t want a full-time role at this stage.”