Three months after being bowled out for 198 in a first Test defeat by Bangladesh on Australian soil, and days after folding for 111 to lose a series in South Africa, Australia have turned to a man who averaged 51.52 in Test cricket. Michael Hussey has been recruited as a long-term batting consultant, with the 2027 Ashes and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics among the targets of the appointment announced on Friday.
The 51-year-old, who played 79 Tests, 185 one-day internationals and 38 T20 internationals, has worked with Australia on short stints before, including as an extra batting voice ahead of Perth Tests. This arrangement is meant to last considerably longer. Reports in September described it as a part-time consultancy, leaving room for his roles as batting coach at Chennai Super Kings and with Welsh Fire in The Hundred.
“I am extremely excited about being a part of the team in a more formal and meaningful role in the coming years,” Hussey said.
Head coach Andrew McDonald said: “Mike has been a highly valued part of our staff in the past and brings a considerable skill set which is complementary to the coaches and players.”
A batting line-up under strain
The numbers explain the timing. In Darwin in August, Australia made 198 and 284 and lost by nine wickets, handing Bangladesh their first Test win in the country. The tour of South Africa that followed swung violently between extremes:
- Durban: 390 and 314-6 declared, won by 214 runs, with Matt Renshaw scoring 190 and 82
- Gqeberha: 99 and 295, lost by an innings and 31 runs
- Cape Town: 429 and 111, lost by 176 runs chasing 288, with Simon Harmer taking 6-16
That left South Africa 2-1 winners. Across a single series Australia passed 390 twice and were also dismissed for 99 and 111, a pattern that points less to a shortage of talent than to an inability to stop a bad session becoming a collapse.
The retirement of Usman Khawaja has also removed an experienced presence from the top order, while Renshaw’s output in Durban was a rare piece of sustained run-scoring in a difficult few months.
Hussey’s own career offers a useful template. He did not make his Test debut until November 2005, at the age of 30, after years of heavy scoring in domestic cricket, and went on to make 6,235 runs with 19 centuries. His highest score, 195, came against England at the Gabba in the 2010-11 Ashes. He was also part of the sides that won the 2007 World Cup and the 2006 and 2009 Champions Trophies.
England’s loss in the race for Hussey
The appointment carries an added edge because England wanted him too. Hussey said in August that he was considering an informal approach from England, relayed through coach Stephen Fleming, his long-time colleague at Chennai, to act as a Test batting mentor. He went as far as saying he would have no issue working with England during an Ashes series, before turning the offer down. Reports at the time cited the full-time demands of the job as the deciding factor.
It would not have been his first spell in English colours. Hussey was part of the coaching staff when England won the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, which gives him recent working knowledge of the opposition set-up.
A crowded road to Lord’s and Los Angeles
Hussey’s first work is expected to come with a young squad in the T20 series against England, which starts on 21 November. Australia then have four Tests against New Zealand and a one-off Test at the MCG from 11 March 2027, marking 150 years of Test cricket.
The Ashes run from 18 June to 2 August 2027, beginning at Trent Bridge and moving through Lord’s and Edgbaston to Southampton, which hosts an Ashes Test for the first time, before finishing at The Oval. Australia have held the urn since 2017 but have not won an Ashes series in England since 2001. The 2019 and 2023 tours both ended level.
The ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia follows in October and November 2027, before attention turns to the T20 competition in Los Angeles, where cricket returns to the Olympics for the first time since 1900.
That spread across formats is why the role is significant. Reports differ on the exact title, with some calling Hussey a batting consultant and others a consultant coach, but the brief is clear enough: to give a side in transition steadier batting across three formats and two very different kinds of target. The first real measure comes in English conditions next June.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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