England supporters can't understand why Australia took so long to recognise Michael Hussey's Test claims. Bradmanesque in county cricket, Hussey was a less prolific and sturdier model in Australia and seemed likely to remain an unfulfilled international until the Langer-Hayden-Ponting triumvirate cracked after four years. A fractured rib to Justin Langer gave Hussey his break following 15,313 first-class runs, a record for an Australian before wearing baggy green, and during a barely believable Test introduction he accepted the apt nickname of Mr Cricket. He also owns the mark for the fastest player to 1000 Test runs after taking only 166 days to rub out the achievement of England's Andrew Strauss.

Following 11 years of first-class service his opening morning on the Test scene was a disappointment, ending with an extravagant attempted pull and a single, but he relaxed for his second match and made a deserving and attractive century. Three more hundreds followed in his first summer, including a memorable 122 in the second Test against South Africa when he put on 107 for the last wicket with Glenn McGrath. Aware of the dangers of the second-season blues, he erased any symptoms during a strong Ashes campaign that started with four consecutive fifties and was followed by a sweaty WACA century.

After 16 Tests his mean of 79.85 was only a few rungs below Sir Don's and although he was trying not to fall from greatness, it was a high standard to maintain. Back-to-back centuries against Sri Lanka at home gave way to a more mortal level, although his fighting 145 in the bitter Sydney Test against India helped Australia set up a tense victory. He headed to India for the return series late in 2008 with a thoroughly human Test average of 52 over the previous 12 months, although his career mark of 68.38 was still exquisite.

The first glitch in an extraordinary international career came in the one-day format leading up to the 2007 World Cup. His calm outlook, strong team qualities and ability to perform in most situations had helped earn him the captaincy for the Chappell-Hadlee Series, but it quickly became a tournament to forget with three severe losses. At the World Cup his first four entries were single figures and he was not required to bat in either of the finals, finishing with 87 runs for the tournament. It was a rare ineffective period for such a focussed athlete.

Like Langer and Graeme Wood, his predecessors as left-handed Western Australian openers, Hussey is scrupulous at practice and has a tidy, compact style. Skilled off front foot and back, he is attractive to watch once set, which occurred regularly at Northamptonshire, Gloucestershire and Durham, where he set about rewriting century-old record-books. Only the third man after Wally Hammond and Graeme Hick to amass three Championship triple-hundreds, he averaged 79 in the 2001 winter, 72 in 2002, 89 in 2003, 36 in 2004 and 76 in 2005. All the while he maintained an equally consistent but less enviable Pura Cup mark - 30 in 2000-01, 35 in 2001-02, 34 in 2002-03, 41 in 2003-04 and 55 in 2004-05. Reinventing himself in one-day cricket as an agile fieldsman and innovative middle-order bat with cool head and loose wrists, Hussey underlined his credentials when picked in the limited-overs squad to tour New Zealand in 2005, and achieved more outrageous figures when it took 29 matches for his average to drop below 100. His sky-high standards have slipped slightly, but he remains a central and versatile figure.
Cricinfo staff September 2008

One-Day International Player of the Year - 2006

• Stubborn Hussey sets challenge for India (Oct 10, 2008)
  
• Rub of the green for Hussey (Oct 10, 2008)
  
• Hussey warns of variable bounce (Oct 10, 2008)
  
• Australia's MVP (Oct 10, 2008)
  
• Patient perseverance (Oct 4, 2008)
  

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Oct 10, 2008 Michael Hussey reaches his hundred © Getty Images

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