‘Australia desperate to find Hussey’s replacement in ODI squad’

Sydney: Cricket Australia’s failure to find an appropriate replacement of veteran Michael Hussey in the limited over team is now haunting them as the team is struggling to score runs on seamer-friendly wickets against Sri Lanka, according to cricket writer, Chris Barret. “Life after Michael Hussey is not going swimmingly for Australia. The ever-dependable left-hander was never going to be easy to replace but when selectors opted, controversially, to activate his international retirement immediately and leave him out of this one-day series, they might have hoped his absence would not be felt so dearly.”

“A third successive below-par score - the Australians were stopped well short of 100 at the Gabba last Friday and only exceeded 200 on Sunday thanks to another brilliant rescue effort from Mitchell Starc - has made the decision to deny the veteran a farewell limited-overs road tour look very unprincipled, he added. “Let`s consider the contenders, who could replace Hussey. Usman Khawaja, George Bailey and David Hussey,” he wrote. Barret added: “Shifted out of the one-day side after the first match against Sri Lanka in Melbourne, Khawaja has, simply by not playing since, raced to the top of the queue, but failed to impress since then.” “Bailey and Hussey began the series superbly at the MCG but since starring in game one have scored only 80 runs between them in three innings each,” he further wrote. “Another fringe contender is Tasmania`s Alex Doolan but his unbeaten 161 against the South Africans in Sydney seems, thanks to the BBL interruption in the shield, a fair way off in the rear-view mirror,” he added. “Then there is all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, but he has not staked his claim as a batsman - or for that matter as a bowler - in this series. Whatever the case, Australia needs the next Michael Hussey, if there is one, to stand up - and quickly,” he concluded. ANI