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- Jan 13, 2010
Article by Sylvester -
I was doing some research into Michael Hussey for another post and stumbled upon some very surprising stats. No one has really noted this, not in the media, blogs or forums. How does Michael Hussey perform outside of Australia and the Sub-Continent?
Hussey started his career with a hiss and a bang averaging 120, 56, 64, 81, 92 and 150. Those are some amazing numbers to start a career and it made Hussey much loved and much talked about. The average of 64 was in Australia in South Africa Test Series, 2005/06. The reason why I single out this average is it remains the only time he has done anything of note outside of Australia and the sub-continent.
His following series outside of these places show the following:
Extra:
So quite surprisingly Hussey did not once average over 40 in any of these countries listed. Originally I was looking at how Hussey went on seam friendly tracks hence I threw in the recently completed series against NZ. But after seeing how he has gone in WI I added the criteria shown in the title.
In regards to seam friendly tracks, I may have missed some in Australia and the sub-continent however it is generally accepted that England, NZ and SA are where these pitches are at. Hussey is generally labeled as a guy that has a good technique and puts a high price on his wicket but the seam friendly tracks seem to suggest his technique is not as air tight as most of us thought it was (myself included).
Now lets take a look at how Hussey goes outside of Australia and the Sub-Continent. Using cricinfo very useful stats in 20 matches in England, SA, NZ and WI, Hussey has scored 1024 runs at an average of 30.11 with one hundred. Compare this with his average in the sub-continent (India, SL and Bangladesh) where in 11 matches he has passed his total runs in those countries listed before with 1198 runs at 63.05 with four hundreds and a highest score of 182. In Australia from 35 matches he has 2974 runs at 59.48 with ten hundreds and his highest score of 195. So interesting enough Hussey actually performs better in the sub-continent than at home which suggest he loves the slow wickets and facing spin. Quite clearly he doesn?t prefer the seaming tracks founds in England, SA, NZ and whatever tracks they prepare in WI.
Over to a nice career summary provided by cricinfo showing what I have pointed out in a nicely laid out format.
So how do other players compare. Obviously players from the sub-continent would be a good measure since Hussey loves playing. Lets take a look at the man trending atm, Virender Sehwag.
Sehwag?s numbers are very similar to Hussey in the seam friendly tracks (NZ, SA, England). Hussey fares slightly better averaging 31.67 on these tracks compared to Sehwag?s 24.7. Sehwag has gone better in WI but since I have no idea what tracks Sehwag or Hussey played on in WI, I?ll leave it at that. So while Hussey has gone better, it certainly isn?t anything to write home about.
Next on the comparison list is Michael Clarke, who started his career off with his flashy shots which went in the air and has been prone to some brain fades in particular before breaks.
Clarke has copped alot of criticism for the way he plays. He was dropped following the 2005 Ashes series but despite that poor showing his record in England remains very good. Interesting enough he finished that series at a better average than Hussey with 37.22 with two fifties. His figures in England also weren?t bumped up by the Pakistan series played in England as he only averaged 34.75 in that series. The reason his average is in the 40s in England is because of his outstanding showing in the 2009 Ashes where he averaged 64 with two hundred and two fifties. He has a much better record in NZ and WI while his record in SA is on par with Hussey. Of course in the zone (sub-continent) Clarke doesn?t come close to Hussey?s record.
The last man I will compare is a batsmen who is at the peak of his powers atm ? Alastair Cook. He has played a similar amount of games as Hussey but far less first class experience.
There is a slightly small sample size to work with here but we still get a very good indication of what a guy with a good technique and a high price on his wicket can do. As one would expect he should have a good record in his home land which he does. In SA he has done what Hussey hasn?t been able to do thus far in scoring a hundred and his average of 40 is more than respectable. New Zealand remains the only blimp on Cook?s radar which I?m sure he will rectify in the future.
To summarize, we can see Hussey like most of the Australian batsmen these days, struggles in the seaming conditions. This was quite surprising for me as I thought he had done better in those conditions especially since he spent so much time on the County Cricket circuit.
More...
I was doing some research into Michael Hussey for another post and stumbled upon some very surprising stats. No one has really noted this, not in the media, blogs or forums. How does Michael Hussey perform outside of Australia and the Sub-Continent?
Hussey started his career with a hiss and a bang averaging 120, 56, 64, 81, 92 and 150. Those are some amazing numbers to start a career and it made Hussey much loved and much talked about. The average of 64 was in Australia in South Africa Test Series, 2005/06. The reason why I single out this average is it remains the only time he has done anything of note outside of Australia and the sub-continent.
His following series outside of these places show the following:
- The Frank Worrell Trophy (Australia in West Indies), 2008 -? 3 test, 137 runs at 22.83, HS 56 with 1 fifty
- Australia in South Africa Test Series, 2008/09 - 3 test, 132 runs at 22, HS 50 with 1 fifty
- The Ashes (Australia in England), 2009 ? 5 test, 276 runs at 34.5, HS 121 with 1 hundred and 2 fifties
- Trans-Tasman Trophy (Australia in New Zealand), 2009/10 ? 2 Test, 93 runs at 31, HS 67 with 1 fifty
- MCC Spirit of Cricket Test Series (Australia, Pakistan in England), 2010 ? 2 Test, 69 runs at 23, HS 56* with 1 fifty
- Australia in South Africa Test Series, 2011/12 ? 2 Test, 60 runs at 15, HS 39
Extra:
- Trans-Tasman Trophy (New Zealand in Australia), 2011/12 - 2 Test, 23 runs at 7.66 (threw this in since they were seaming tracks)
So quite surprisingly Hussey did not once average over 40 in any of these countries listed. Originally I was looking at how Hussey went on seam friendly tracks hence I threw in the recently completed series against NZ. But after seeing how he has gone in WI I added the criteria shown in the title.
In regards to seam friendly tracks, I may have missed some in Australia and the sub-continent however it is generally accepted that England, NZ and SA are where these pitches are at. Hussey is generally labeled as a guy that has a good technique and puts a high price on his wicket but the seam friendly tracks seem to suggest his technique is not as air tight as most of us thought it was (myself included).
Now lets take a look at how Hussey goes outside of Australia and the Sub-Continent. Using cricinfo very useful stats in 20 matches in England, SA, NZ and WI, Hussey has scored 1024 runs at an average of 30.11 with one hundred. Compare this with his average in the sub-continent (India, SL and Bangladesh) where in 11 matches he has passed his total runs in those countries listed before with 1198 runs at 63.05 with four hundreds and a highest score of 182. In Australia from 35 matches he has 2974 runs at 59.48 with ten hundreds and his highest score of 195. So interesting enough Hussey actually performs better in the sub-continent than at home which suggest he loves the slow wickets and facing spin. Quite clearly he doesn?t prefer the seaming tracks founds in England, SA, NZ and whatever tracks they prepare in WI.
Over to a nice career summary provided by cricinfo showing what I have pointed out in a nicely laid out format.
So how do other players compare. Obviously players from the sub-continent would be a good measure since Hussey loves playing. Lets take a look at the man trending atm, Virender Sehwag.
Sehwag?s numbers are very similar to Hussey in the seam friendly tracks (NZ, SA, England). Hussey fares slightly better averaging 31.67 on these tracks compared to Sehwag?s 24.7. Sehwag has gone better in WI but since I have no idea what tracks Sehwag or Hussey played on in WI, I?ll leave it at that. So while Hussey has gone better, it certainly isn?t anything to write home about.
Next on the comparison list is Michael Clarke, who started his career off with his flashy shots which went in the air and has been prone to some brain fades in particular before breaks.
Clarke has copped alot of criticism for the way he plays. He was dropped following the 2005 Ashes series but despite that poor showing his record in England remains very good. Interesting enough he finished that series at a better average than Hussey with 37.22 with two fifties. His figures in England also weren?t bumped up by the Pakistan series played in England as he only averaged 34.75 in that series. The reason his average is in the 40s in England is because of his outstanding showing in the 2009 Ashes where he averaged 64 with two hundred and two fifties. He has a much better record in NZ and WI while his record in SA is on par with Hussey. Of course in the zone (sub-continent) Clarke doesn?t come close to Hussey?s record.
The last man I will compare is a batsmen who is at the peak of his powers atm ? Alastair Cook. He has played a similar amount of games as Hussey but far less first class experience.
There is a slightly small sample size to work with here but we still get a very good indication of what a guy with a good technique and a high price on his wicket can do. As one would expect he should have a good record in his home land which he does. In SA he has done what Hussey hasn?t been able to do thus far in scoring a hundred and his average of 40 is more than respectable. New Zealand remains the only blimp on Cook?s radar which I?m sure he will rectify in the future.
To summarize, we can see Hussey like most of the Australian batsmen these days, struggles in the seaming conditions. This was quite surprising for me as I thought he had done better in those conditions especially since he spent so much time on the County Cricket circuit.
More...
But I look at those dates on the series you've identified and I think to myself: didn't Mike Hussey suck in basically ALL the series between 2008-2010? The answer is yes. In 2008/09 - at home he averaged 35 vs NZ and 17 vs SA. In 2009/10 at home it looks a bit better for him - he averaged 47 vs WI, and 66 vs Pak, but you might remember his average for the series was 33 before that 134* v Pak at the SCG. Given the way MoYo was handing singles to him and the question marks surrounding that game, I'm not sure that's a ringing endorsement. 
