Ex-Australian batsman Mike Hussey and captain Ricky Ponting have both stated they will not be returning to international cricket on the same day.
Experienced batsman Mike Hussey is the latest retired Australian cricketer to state he will not be returning to Test cricket before the Ashes.
37-year-old Hussey joins his former skipper Ricky Ponting in ruling himself out of a return to the international set-up.
“It’s extremely flattering,” Hussey said on Zee News about being linked with a recall.
“But I’ve moved on and I really don’t want to be back in that pressure-cooker environment, particularly leading into the Ashes.”
Both Hussey and Ponting were highlighted as being possible recalls for the Australian team after a mini-crisis within the Aussie Test side during their tour of India.
Not only have the performances on the pitch been poor – Australia have been mostly outclassed by the Indians and have lost all three Test matches to date – but their was controversy behind the scenes as vice-captain Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja and James Pattinson were all suspended for the third Test match in Mohali.
With Hussey being the latest of a long list of outstanding Australian cricketers to retire from the game in the last few years, it seems logical that he would be the first man the side would turn to now.
Yet Hussey seems content after retiring in January with 79 Test matches for Australia under his belt, at an average of 51.52. The 37-year-old also held the record of becoming the fastest Test batsman to reach 1000 runs.
With Ponting and Hussey both ruling themselves out Australia will now have to rethink how they are going to improve the side before the upcoming Ashes series.
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