Michael Hussey feels batting at No.5 and 6 is one of the toughest jobs

He made a comparatively late debut in international cricket but went ahead to establish himself as one of the most successful middle-order batsmen for Australia in all formats. The Kangaroos haven’t found a worthy successor to Michael Hussey after the left-handed batsman hung up his boots in 2013.

The 43-year-old former cricketer recently said that batting at No.5 and 6 is one of the toughest jobs in the game because of the varying conditions the players face while batting at those spots. Hussey, who made his ODI debut at the age of 29 and Test debut at the age of 30, went on to score 5,442 runs in the limited-overs format and 6,235 runs in the longer format, scoring 22 international hundreds. Besides, he also scored 721 runs in 38 T20Is.

Situations vary at those positions

“They’re challenging because there are so many different situations in games that you can come out to. You might come in and your team is in trouble and you have to resurrect the innings, you might come in and you’ve got to tee off and may throw your wicket away,” Hussey told Fox Sports.

“You might come in when the ball is reverse swinging and you’ve got to bat with the tail so you have to think your way through it. It can be a really difficult position to bat.”

In ODIs, Hussey has batted at No. 5 in 46 matches and he has scored 1,544 runs at an average of 44 plus and strike rate of 85.02. He has one hundred and 12 fifties at that position. At No.6, Hussey has scored 1,942 runs from 74 games at an average of 40.45 and strike rate of 88.23. He has one hundred and 11 half century at that position.

With two prominent Australian batsmen in Steve Smith and David Warner serving a year-long ban, the Men in Yellow are having a tough time in getting their batting unit to click and were walloped by England 0-5 in their last series. Australia, who had the likes of Michael Bevan besides Hussey as finishers, are in the lookout for a solid combination of six top batsmen in all formats.

The next World Cup is also less than 10 months away and the defending champions have to get their act together fast. “I’d be looking for the six best batsmen in Australia. My belief is those guys have had to have dominated Sheffield Shield cricket for a number of seasons – not just half a season, or one season,” Hussey gave his insight on the issue.

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