Selectors should pick the best XI, irrespective of age, says Mike Hussey
Australia has struggled in the ongoing Test series against South Africa and already lost the series 0-2 with a lone match left at Adelaide beginning on November 24. Former batsman Mike Hussey has expressed that the selectors should pick the best possible XI irrespective of their age ahead of penultimate Test which is going to be a Day/Night affair.
As per earlier reports, head coach Darren Lehmann said that only four players are eligible to feature in the last match, namely Steve Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. Former cricketer and national selector Mark Waugh has also said that there will be changes for the upcoming Adelaide Test after suffering an innings defeat in the last encounter.
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The poor performance at Hobart was the Australia’s fifth Test match loss in a row and also led to the resignation of Rod Marsh from his post a few months earlier than his contract ran out. As per the reports of cricket.com.au, Hussey said, “First of all, pick the very best XI players that we’ve got in the country, regardless of age. I’m not looking ahead to the Pakistan series. I’m not looking ahead to the India series or the Ashes. I want us to win the next Test match.”
“In my mind, that’s the most important because say if we lose again then there’s more and more talk about change then the confidence of the players will go down even more,” he added.
The southpaw feels that the Aussies need to prepare themselves to play good and disciplined cricket for longer hours with the bat and the ball and they need to look at each and every ball as a contest.
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Regarding the matter, Mr.Cricket said, “We need to be prepared to play good, hard, basic disciplined Test cricket for long, long periods of time, whether that’s with the bat or the ball,” Hussey said. “Show patience and discipline for long periods of time.”
Pakistan will visit the island soon after the Proteas’ make an exit, it will be interesting to see how the Steve Smith led team approaches the Test series after losing the previous one at their own backyard.