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- Jan 13, 2010
Article by AngryAngy -
Mike Hussey was an infuriatingly nice man.
He was modest, unassuming. A hard worker. The sort of man who shames others easily through comparisons. The man your mother tells your sister she should have married, even if no such opportunity ever arose. Perhaps, in this age of sleeve tattoos, he is truly otherworldly. His zinc cream smeared face could certainly take on a ghostly appearance late in the day.
True to his form, Mr Cricket entered retirement having made all the due preparations. He made his decision when he realised he was dreading going to the Ashes. He was going to quietly announce his retirement some time after the Sydney Test and walk away without fanfare. Not even his close friends could tolerate this absurd level of humility and they convinced him to announce his retirement ahead of the match.
So goes this 3rd Test against Sri Lanka. In the first innings, he did the things he would do. He scampered between the wickets. The fatal run was tight, but such was his forte. All your runs are only ever as tight as the fielder’s throw, don’t make it too easy and you’re never really caught with your pants down. Hussey executed a good turn for the second, not once did he show hesitation. He knew he had to dive. It was a perfect quick second, it’s just that they had his measure that one time.
But it was a run out and to be fair, there have been some really awful ones lately, so people did look for someone to blame. I doubt such a though would have crossed Hussey’s mind.
Fast forward, it’s now the 4th innings. Australia are making hard work of a short chase. Since the 2nd innings, Australians all over, and probably some others, were hopeful Australia would be at least 4 down in their chase. Not Hussey. “I was hoping we could make the runs none down”.
The crowd bays for Mike Hussey one last time. It’s actually pretty good, tense cricket mind you, but it can not contain the spectators’ preoccupation. Does the crowd stimulate even so much as a smile for Hussey? Of course not. He quietly suggests to his coach that they might want to encourage the crowd to turn it down over the PA.
Finally, Clarke fails. The crowd cheers and it’s not because only the Sri Lankans showed. Hussey charges forth. One got the feeling he absolutely couldn’t stand to deal with the adulation and the sooner he was in the middle, the sooner he was free. After all, what team player would enjoy the cheers at the expense of a team mate?
And then, after a farcical sip of tea, Johnson taps the ball square and Hussey is all to happy to call him through. It’s the winning run and it’s to the booing of the crowd. Michael Hussey, who was classy and upright to the last, who would never have dared to contrive a passage of play for a chance at glory, did as he always did, he called a quick single and ran. “I was was telling Mitch the over before, if it comes up that you hit it, let’s just get it over with”. He pulled the winning runs through his own style, by being at the other end and keeping his head down. It was classic Hussey, but it was not to the crowd’s liking. Just who the fearsome tweak did they think they were watching, who were they so desperate to farewell?
Likewise, the announcement of the ODI squad is grimly received. The fresh batch of top order stroke players that was really needed over the past year is overlooked. Hussey, having retired, has been left out of a forward-thinking squad that also rests David Warner, Michael Clarke and Matthew Wade. How dare they dismiss Hussey without a farewell tour! How can they look to the future and bring Haddin in? (I guess allowing Wade to rest and work on his faults has no future benefits) I note at this point that there was no love whatsoever for Haddin when he was given the boot, no clamour for a farewell tour, 10 year player that he was (or is, it would seem). Form has amazing telepathic powers.
But also remember that this man Hussey is a man who reluctantly accepted a farewell Test. He would have enjoyed playing of course, but an entire “farewell” ODI series? “I think it would be hard in a lot of ways to go around and get that in every one day game. I’ve had a great opportunity here. It couldn’t have ended any better.”
At so many stages I’ve stopped to ponder just how utterly incongruous Michael Hussey is with his fans’ reaction to his departure. The crowd cheered the Australian captain’s wicket and booed when the team won. The papers will gloss over it, but cricket historians will surely take note. It comes as no surprise when Hussey admitted, “I’ve been a little bit embarrassed to be honest.”
Now some might take this all as a bit pompous or sanctimonious, but in cricket we do embelish fact with emotion quite a lot. Sometimes runs have been deemed to happen because of a real-life counterpoint (even if they’re completely arsey runs). We are quick to assume aggressive players are arrogant or rude off the field (rather than simple white-line addicts). Watching or listening to cricket gives one a lot of time to define their life (and paying for tickets these days leaves one wanting for cheap forms of recreation, such as philosophy). What I would hope for, and even with a disclaimer, this may still be overly naive, but I would ask that these people we admire, that we sigh whistfully about on quiet days, are given real homage not false idolatry, especially when they make no claims to being an idol. I just think that if you really respect the way someone goes about it, then imitation is surely the highest form of flattery. Try taking a lesson from the people you value, try to do a few things as they would do. Try to honour someone as they would honour you. A few more Mike Husseys out there probably wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
More...
Mike Hussey was an infuriatingly nice man.
He was modest, unassuming. A hard worker. The sort of man who shames others easily through comparisons. The man your mother tells your sister she should have married, even if no such opportunity ever arose. Perhaps, in this age of sleeve tattoos, he is truly otherworldly. His zinc cream smeared face could certainly take on a ghostly appearance late in the day.
True to his form, Mr Cricket entered retirement having made all the due preparations. He made his decision when he realised he was dreading going to the Ashes. He was going to quietly announce his retirement some time after the Sydney Test and walk away without fanfare. Not even his close friends could tolerate this absurd level of humility and they convinced him to announce his retirement ahead of the match.
So goes this 3rd Test against Sri Lanka. In the first innings, he did the things he would do. He scampered between the wickets. The fatal run was tight, but such was his forte. All your runs are only ever as tight as the fielder’s throw, don’t make it too easy and you’re never really caught with your pants down. Hussey executed a good turn for the second, not once did he show hesitation. He knew he had to dive. It was a perfect quick second, it’s just that they had his measure that one time.
But it was a run out and to be fair, there have been some really awful ones lately, so people did look for someone to blame. I doubt such a though would have crossed Hussey’s mind.
Fast forward, it’s now the 4th innings. Australia are making hard work of a short chase. Since the 2nd innings, Australians all over, and probably some others, were hopeful Australia would be at least 4 down in their chase. Not Hussey. “I was hoping we could make the runs none down”.
The crowd bays for Mike Hussey one last time. It’s actually pretty good, tense cricket mind you, but it can not contain the spectators’ preoccupation. Does the crowd stimulate even so much as a smile for Hussey? Of course not. He quietly suggests to his coach that they might want to encourage the crowd to turn it down over the PA.
Finally, Clarke fails. The crowd cheers and it’s not because only the Sri Lankans showed. Hussey charges forth. One got the feeling he absolutely couldn’t stand to deal with the adulation and the sooner he was in the middle, the sooner he was free. After all, what team player would enjoy the cheers at the expense of a team mate?
And then, after a farcical sip of tea, Johnson taps the ball square and Hussey is all to happy to call him through. It’s the winning run and it’s to the booing of the crowd. Michael Hussey, who was classy and upright to the last, who would never have dared to contrive a passage of play for a chance at glory, did as he always did, he called a quick single and ran. “I was was telling Mitch the over before, if it comes up that you hit it, let’s just get it over with”. He pulled the winning runs through his own style, by being at the other end and keeping his head down. It was classic Hussey, but it was not to the crowd’s liking. Just who the fearsome tweak did they think they were watching, who were they so desperate to farewell?
Likewise, the announcement of the ODI squad is grimly received. The fresh batch of top order stroke players that was really needed over the past year is overlooked. Hussey, having retired, has been left out of a forward-thinking squad that also rests David Warner, Michael Clarke and Matthew Wade. How dare they dismiss Hussey without a farewell tour! How can they look to the future and bring Haddin in? (I guess allowing Wade to rest and work on his faults has no future benefits) I note at this point that there was no love whatsoever for Haddin when he was given the boot, no clamour for a farewell tour, 10 year player that he was (or is, it would seem). Form has amazing telepathic powers.
But also remember that this man Hussey is a man who reluctantly accepted a farewell Test. He would have enjoyed playing of course, but an entire “farewell” ODI series? “I think it would be hard in a lot of ways to go around and get that in every one day game. I’ve had a great opportunity here. It couldn’t have ended any better.”
At so many stages I’ve stopped to ponder just how utterly incongruous Michael Hussey is with his fans’ reaction to his departure. The crowd cheered the Australian captain’s wicket and booed when the team won. The papers will gloss over it, but cricket historians will surely take note. It comes as no surprise when Hussey admitted, “I’ve been a little bit embarrassed to be honest.”
Now some might take this all as a bit pompous or sanctimonious, but in cricket we do embelish fact with emotion quite a lot. Sometimes runs have been deemed to happen because of a real-life counterpoint (even if they’re completely arsey runs). We are quick to assume aggressive players are arrogant or rude off the field (rather than simple white-line addicts). Watching or listening to cricket gives one a lot of time to define their life (and paying for tickets these days leaves one wanting for cheap forms of recreation, such as philosophy). What I would hope for, and even with a disclaimer, this may still be overly naive, but I would ask that these people we admire, that we sigh whistfully about on quiet days, are given real homage not false idolatry, especially when they make no claims to being an idol. I just think that if you really respect the way someone goes about it, then imitation is surely the highest form of flattery. Try taking a lesson from the people you value, try to do a few things as they would do. Try to honour someone as they would honour you. A few more Mike Husseys out there probably wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
More...
