5 careers which never took off under Ricky Ponting’s captaincy
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting led his country in what turned out to be a golden era of cricket for them; players like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist dominated the world with one stupendous performance after another. Post their retirement, a number of names made it into the national side but were rarely recognized as a result of either their inconsistency or sudden selection decisions.
Five of those names have been mentioned below: cricketers who had immense ability, but whose careers never took off during the Ponting days.
#1 David Hussey
The younger Hussey did have his opportunities in international cricket, albeit at a relatively older age, just like Mike Hussey. Slotting into the middle-order on the West Indies tour in 2008, David Hussey made his ODI debut just days before turning 31 – he had played only two T20 internationals until then, one of which had come on the same tour – and responded with a 50 in a one-run win at Basseterre. Another half-century followed two days later, but a big score took some time to come, with his maiden – and only – ODI hundred coming against Scotland in mid-2009.
Hussey hit a purple patch during the 2011-12 tri-series at home against India and Sri Lanka, when in 11 innings, he struck five fifties, including a quickfire 61* from 30 balls against India at Melbourne. He ended the tournament with an average of 54.88 and a strike rate of 101; but with age catching up fast and fresher legs waiting in the wings, Hussey was shown the door after 69 ODIs and 39 T20Is, his last international game coming in 2013.