Michael Edward Killeen Hussey
Michael Edward Killeen Hussey (born 27 May 1975) also known as Mike Hussey is a former Australian Test cricketer. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname Mr Cricket. Hussey was a relative latecomer to both the one-day international and Test Australian teams, debuting at 28 and 30 years of age in the respective formats, with 15,313 first-class runs before making his Test debut. However, he had a highly successful international career, being the top-ranked ODI batsman in the world in 2006. He plays first-class cricket as vice-captain of the Western Warriors in Australia and has played for three counties in England. He played in the Indian Premier League for the Chennai Super Kings and later for Mumbai Indians. Michael Hussey announced his retirement from international cricket on 29 December 2012. He plays for Big Bash side Sydney Thunder. Hussey announced his retirement from all cricket after the completion of BBL05.
International career:
Hussey earned a Cricket Australia contract in 200405 after excelling in the ING Cup. Statistically, Hussey’s international career was very successful, with his career batting average in Tests being 51.52 and in ODIs 48.15. He was a very occasional medium pace bowler, bowling only 98 overs in his Test career, 23 of them in 2008. He was brought into the attack usually to give the pace bowlers a rest, although he was once brought on in India to stop Ricky Ponting getting a one-match ban for a slow over rate. On 28 December 2008, Day 3 of the Boxing Day test, he got his first test wicket, Paul Harris caught by Mitchell Johnson. He ended with figures of 1/22. He took two wickets in One Day Internationals.
Personal life:
Hussey is married to Amy and has four children. His father is a former athletics coach and his younger brother, David, is also a professional cricketer who plays for Victoria, Nottinghamshire, Chennai Super Kings and Australia.Prior to his entry into first-class cricket, Hussey studied to become a science teacher. He is also a fan of Manchester United due to his dad. Hussey attended Whitford Catholic Primary School in his early years and later attended Prendiville Catholic College in the northern suburbs of Perth. After finishing school he won a scholarship to the Australian Cricket Academy, where his contemporaries included Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie.
“Mr Cricket”.Hussey has the nickname Mr Cricket, due to his encyclopaedic knowledge of his sport. He has repeatedly stated that he dislikes the nickname finding it “a bit embarrassing”. England rival Andrew Flintoff and Graeme Swann’s brother Alec were reportedly responsible for coining it.The soubriquet appeared on the back of his shirt in the Twenty20 international against South Africa in 2006, in which all the players displayed their nicknames. During the 2007 Twenty20 against England, however, he was seen with “Huss” on his shirt instead, further suggesting he is fed up with the tag Mr Cricket. Nevertheless, the nickname features prominently in his television ads for the national real estate chain L.J. Hooker.
Career Best Performances:
Batting Score:
Test: 195
ODI: 109*
T20I: 60*
T20: 116*
Retirement:
He announced his retirement from international cricket after the 2012 Boxing Day Test at Melbourne. His last Test appearance was the New Years fixture against Sri Lanka at the SCG, starting on 3 January 2013. He planned to play out the rest of the Australian summer in limited overs cricket but was surprisingly dropped with Australian selectors planning for the 2015 world cup and to give Phillip Hughes and Usman Khawaja an opportunity at ODI level. Hussey explained that his motivation for his retirement was to spend more time with his family. Hussey also delayed his announcement until before the Sydney Test in 2013, fearing that he would have been dropped before the Australian summer season was over.
