Mike Hussey against CA’s idea of picking spin-batting specialists

Former Australian batsman Mike Hussey has despised Cricket Australia’s newest idea of picking batsmen who can play spin bowling especially for the tours of the subcontinent in the future. Hussey, who himself is a good player of spin bowling stated that he did not buy into the idea put forth by the management stating that it was important for batsmen to be able to bat in all conditions across the globe.

The current tour of Sri Lanka has gone on to expose the batting frailties of some of the Australian batsmen. Saying that they were simply decimated by the spin of the Sri Lankans is an understatement in its own right.

“I don’t really buy into that, to be honest,” Hussey told cricket.com.au on Friday (August 12). “As selectors, they pick the best six batsmen in the country to go out there and play in any conditions. I remember as a player if you were considered as one of the best six batsmen in Australia you wanted to be challenged in all the different conditions around the world.

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“You wanted to go to England and first of all learn how to play in their conditions and then thrive,” he added. “You wanted to go to India and learn and then thrive. That’s part and parcel of being an international batsman. You’ve got to go and play in different conditions and you’ve got to figure it out yourself and try to figure out how to have success.”

Hussey added that playing spin in Australian conditions was a whole lot different from playing spin in subcontinent conditions. “I’d be worried if we were picking the 10th-best or 15th-best batsman in the country just because he’s perceived to be a good player of spin so we’re going to get him into the Test team,” he said. “I can tell you playing spin in Australia is a lot different to playing spin in India and Sri Lanka.”

“I personally would like to back the guys that are in there at the moment,” he added. “They’re building up their skills and their plans in playing in these conditions every single time they play. Every time they get in there their experience grows and their skill level will grow to bat in those.”

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