da 888casino： Michael Hussey will lead Australia in their next match against West Indies as Ricky Ponting rests
Preview by Dileep Premachandran in Kuala Lumpur17-Sep-2006
Michael Hussey, who has had much success in both Tests and ODIs, now gets to lead Australia © Getty Images
Michael Hussey, not even part of the squad that surrendered the Ashes ayear ago, will lead Australia against West Indies on Monday, with RickyPonting opting for a rest as the DLF Cup moves into its second week.Matthew Hayden, Andrew Symonds and Brett Lee will also return asAustralia look to ensure a place in next Sunday’s final.Hussey, who hasn’t played any part in the tournament so far, averages amind-boggling 77.06 from his 31 innings in ODIs, and more importantly, hisstrike-rate – 97.47 – has made him the perfect man to pilot thelate-innings surge. “I’ll think about maybe sliding up,” he said with alaugh when asked if he might go up the order. “No, not really. I thinkI’ve got a very specific role in the team and one that I really enjoyplaying.”The progression from nowhere man to man in charge is a scarcely believableone, and Hussey admitted as much. “It’s pretty remarkable, I guess, butI’m just enjoying every moment. I’m just looking forward to leading theteam as well as I possibly can.”With Mitchell Johnson, the bowling hero against India, joining MarkCosgrove and Phil Jaques on a flight home later today, more establishedfaces will come into the fray against West Indies. And Hussey reckonedthat the wealth of experience in the ranks would stand him in good stead.”I’m not looking to change too much,” he said. “The team’s been playingpretty well in the tournament, and over the past few years. Ricky’s got avery good plan, and we’ve got a good culture. I’ll be making my decisionsout there, but I’ll be calling on the senior players and their experienceand ideas.”West Indies know that victory on Monday will push India closer toelimination, and Brian Lara was confident that his team had what it tookto cause an upset. “You’ve got to be mentally, physically and tacticallystrong as well,” he said, when asked what plans they had for Australia.”They’re not at their best at the present, evident from the hiccups intheir batting, but they are a confident unit and the best team in theworld. If they find themselves in any difficult situation, they can getout of it. You have to as aggressive as they are and beat them at everyturn. That’s what we thought we were doing in the first game butunfortunately we folded during the latter part.”Corey Collymore, who has a right thigh problem, remains doubtful for thegame, and Lara emphasised that his bowlers would need to do much better ifthey were to run Australia close. “I still think we’re short of where wewant to be,” he said. “It’s not about who we play, it’s about what we dowhen we have the ball in our hands. I think it’s important to work ontheir game and not worry too much about the opposition. But the mostimportant thing is to improve on our inconsistent line and length.”Unless the team management elects to give him a rest, something he surelydoesn’t need after nearly a year away, Glenn McGrath will once again havea crucial role to play. And Hussey, for one, had no doubt about hiscontinuing value to the side. “He’s just a champion, isn’t he? After sucha long break, he’s just come back and put it right on the 20-cent pieceevery time. He’s a huge asset to our team. Hopefully, everything’s good athome with his family and he can concentrate solely on playing goodcricket. If he does, we’re going to be a very hard team to beat.”West Indies gave Australia an almighty scare in the opening game beforethe collapse that saw nine wickets fall for just 29, but Lara said that itwouldn’t inhibit his players ahead of Monday’s match. “I think we justneed to think about our game a lot better,” he said. “I think Chanderpauland Gayle put us in a very good position. I don’t know if we panicked, butthe game plan went out of the window and that’s where we fell short. Andeven looking at India yesterday, with 170 to get in 29 overs, theypanicked. Against Australia we need to maintain sanity and play good,thinking cricket throughout the game.”Keeping in mind the inclement weather conditions and the high possibilityof rain in the evenings, the remaining matches, including Monday’s, willstart an hour early, at 1330 Malaysia time.Australia (likely): 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Shane Watson, 3 DamienMartyn, 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Michael Hussey (capt), 7Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Stuart Clark, 11 GlennMcGrath.West Indies (likely): 1 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 2 Chris Gayle, 3Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara (capt), 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Wavell Hinds, 7Dwayne Smith, 8 Carlton Baugh, 9 Ian Bradshaw, 10 Jerome Taylor, 11 CoreyCollymore.