Ashes 09: Michael Hussey Retires

King Probot Michael Hussey has done something the selectors should have done a long time ago; he has sacked himself from cricket.

Sure he is calling it a retirement.

But we all know a good sacking when we see it.

He has said:

“I have struggled for a long time and I think this is the right time to go. I owe the guys better than what I am able to give them. I love playing cricket for Australia, but all good things must come to an end. My family has always been very important to me and it will be great to spend more time with them. Batting never came as easy to me as it did to others, but I am proud of what I achieved.”

Hussey leaves the game with a batting average of over 50, the final statistical anomaly we will ever get from him.

I have never been a huge fan, but he did make one of the best hundreds I have ever seen when Graeme Smith gave him boundary riders at the G and he and McGrath just batted as they pleased.

There are few people who love him or hate him, and this is what has always annoyed me about him. But when he was good he was better than you, and anyone you know.

When My grandkids say to me, “Grandpa Jrod, how good was Michael Hussey?” I will say something like this: He was a frenetic over achieving earnest bastard who proved the existence of the matrix for about 18 tests, and for the rest he was a nervous wreck with a legacy position that should have been dropped long before he retired. Now go get me an iBeer.

I think it is good test cricket has players like him, so that when the real class comes along we can see the difference.

But how many people strangled out their talent as well as M Hussey?

I respect him, even if he wasn’t my bag of skittles.

Disclaimer: Certain sections of this post, like the bit where Hussey retires, may have been fabricated.