Michael Hussey

Michael Edward Killeen Hussey (born 27 May 1975) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator and former international cricketer, who played all forms of the game. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname 'Mr Cricket'. Hussey was a relative latecomer to both the Australian one-day international and Test teams, debuting at 28 and 30 years of age in the respective formats, with 15,313 first-class runs before making his Test debut. With his time representing Australia, Hussey won multiple ICC titles with the team: the 2007 Cricket World Cup, the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, and the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy.

However, he had a highly prolific international career, being the top-ranked ODI batsman in the world in 2006. He played first-class cricket as vice-captain of the Western Warriors in Australia and played for three counties in England, as well as the Indian Premier League for the Chennai Super Kings. Michael Hussey announced his retirement from international cricket on 29 December 2012. He continued to play for Big Bash side Sydney Thunder, captaining the side to their first and only BBL title, before announcing his retirement from all forms of cricket after the completion of its 2015–16 season.

Hussey initially played for his native Western Australian Warriors, and his career total of 6471 runs ranks eighth in the list of that state's run-makers in the Sheffield Shield. He then moved to England, where in July 2001 he scored an unbeaten 329 (a Northamptonshire club record) at Wantage Road in his side's 633 for six declared on the way to a 10-wicket victory. He later captained Northamptonshire. In August 2003 he surpassed his own Northamptonshire record, when he scored 331 not out against Somerset at Taunton.

When Hussey was playing for Australia A, the Australian reserve team, Allan Border once jokingly suggested he get match practice by staying in the nets for a full six hours; surprisingly, Hussey went on to do just that.

Hussey played for the Indian Premier League teams Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. He became the second batsman to score a century in the competition, after New Zealand's Brendon McCullum, making a score of 116 not out for Chennai against Kings XI Punjab in 2008.

Hussey won the tournament with Chennai in 2010. In 2011 he was the fifth-highest run-scorer in the competition, scoring 492 runs with a highest score of 81 not out, and in 2013 was the highest run-scorer with 733 runs, equalling the most runs by a batsman in an IPL season. He played for Mumbai in 2014 but returned to Chennai the following season.

In January 2018 he was appointed as Chennai's batting coach.

Hussey earned a Cricket Australia contract in 2004–05 after excelling in the ING Cup. Statistically, Hussey's international career was very successful, with his career batting average in Tests being 51.52 and in ODIs 48.15. He was a very occasional medium pace bowler, bowling only 98 overs in his Test career, 23 of them in 2008. He was brought into the attack usually to give the pace bowlers a rest, although he was once brought on in India to stop Ricky Ponting getting a one-match ban for a slow over rate. On 28 December 2008, Day 3 of the Boxing Day Test, he got his first Test wicket, Paul Harris caught by Mitchell Johnson. He ended with figures of 1/22. He took two wickets in One Day Internationals.