Notts confirm return of David Hussey

By Dave Bracegirdle

Nottinghamshire have secured the services of David Hussey for at least a part of the second half of the English domestic season. The Victorian batsman, who will be 36 in July, will return to Trent Bridge for an eighth time after completing his commitments in the Indian Premier League, where he plays for King’s XI Punjab.

Hussey, known in his homeland as ‘Mr t20 Cricket’ will arrive in June, in time to skipper Notts in the Friends Life t20 competition. He will also be available for five LV= County Championship fixtures and four Clydesdale Bank 40 matches. Australian Test opener Ed Cowan will begin the season as Nottinghamshire’s overseas player before joining his countrymen for the Ashes campaign.

Hussey has maintained strong links with Notts since first representing them in 2004. In recent seasons his availability has been restricted though, due to a variety of circumstances. He missed the final weeks of the 2010 season after being recalled early by Victoria ahead of their Champions League challenge and in 2011 he played just one first-class game for Notts before being whisked away to go on an Australia A tour to Sri Lanka.

Last summer Hussey’s short-format commitments, coupled with his involvement in an ODI series here against England, meant that he didn’t represent the county at all. Nevertheless, Notts’ director of cricket Mick Newell has always maintained that the right-hander is his first choice when available and is delighted to be able to welcome back a fully-paid up member of the Trent Bridge family.

"David has been my first thought when recruiting overseas players for ten years now and he adds a lot of value in all formats," said Newell. "For me, he is more than good enough to have warranted Test selection and to have a player of that calibre with an affinity for a particular county is rare and something that we have embraced.

"It has become increasingly difficult to sign a quality overseas player for an entire season but we are pleased that David and Ed Cowan will both spend a good amount of time with us."

Hussey is clearly looking forward to hooking up again with the county. “There are lots of things I enjoy about playing for Notts but the characters in the dressing room, the atmosphere at Trent Bridge and the fact that the team are always competitive are the main reasons,” he said.

“Captaining the Notts Outlaws is something that I really enjoy and my method is to try to think two overs ahead of everybody else and to bring some stability in pressure situations. I have a great relationship with Mick Newell and Chris Read and we have some good discussions about how we want to play things.

“When I look at the squad I think that there is the potential for us to make it to Finals Day but also to mount a serious challenge in the Championship. I played all of the Championship-winning season in 2005 and contributed in 2010 and those trophies rank among the best achievements of my career.”

Having been a regular in Australia’s international white-ball cricket for the past five years, Hussey was left out of the two t20 matches against Sri Lanka at the weekend and has been omitted from the first two forthcoming ODIs against West Indies. It is therefore unclear how much he will feature in Cricket Australia’s future plans.

Nottinghamshire are yet to confirm their overseas situation for the final month of the domestic season but Newell is hoping that either Hussey or Cowan will be available, subject to international commitments.  



Date: 30/01/2013 06:00:00 by Dave Bracegirdle
In: Today | Nottinghamshire |