Justin Langer recruits Mike Hussey to Australia’s Twenty20 coaching staff
The return of Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh improved Australia’s one-day and Test fortunes and now coach Justin Langer is hoping another ex-teammate can do the same with the T20 team.
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Mr Cricket is returning to his natural habitat.
Mike Hussey, the man for whom too much cricket was never enough, will be back in the Australian dressing room this week as part of Justin Langer’s new-look Twenty20 coaching staff.
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The batting great is the latest former star brought back into the fold by Langer, following Ricky Ponting’s influence on the World Cup campaign and Steve Waugh’s presence throughout the Ashes.
The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that along with the coup of Hussey, former Test fast bowler Ryan Harris will take on the role of bowling coach during the six T20 internationals against Sri Lanka and Pakistan starting next Sunday.
Langer is still searching for permanent replacements on his staff to fill the void recently left by Brad Haddin and also David Saker, who was moved on earlier this year.
But at least a coaching team has put been put together for the start of the summer, and Hussey brings immeasurable qualities to the table as a pioneer of T20 batting and one of the most respected team men to have played the game.
Players raved about the mentoring role provided by Ponting and Waugh during the long stint in England, and although Hussey doesn’t want to commit to the demands of being a full-time part of the national coaching staff at this stage of his life, he is relishing the chance to help set up Australia’s bid to win its first ever Twenty20 World Cup in a year’s time.
“I’m very excited actually. I’m really looking forward to getting back in around the Aussie team,” Hussey said.
“They are going to be trying to get strategies in place, develop a style of play and what players they want and I love all that stuff — planning for a big event.
“They have floated the possibility of being involved closer to the T20 World Cup as well but it’s all pretty loose at the moment.”
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Langer said the presence of Ponting, Waugh and now Hussey was enormous for his young group.
“I can’t tell you how influential these guys can be on the group. It’s about building our leadership, about honing their skills as cricketers, and they can just complement the other guys who are full-time coaches,” Langer said.
“It’s nice to have different voices and different eyes and see guys of that calibre giving us feedback on what they see.”
Australia looked a rabble in one-day cricket until last January when a clear game plan was put in place and players were picked to carry it out.
It proved a success as Australia made the World Cup semi-final.
Langer, who had years of success at the Perth Scorchers, has a similar plan for conquering the Twenty20 format in which Australia has never won a major world tournament and Hussey believes letting the players have input into how they want to go about things will be key.
“Maybe we were just a little bit slower than other countries in making Twenty20 a priority,” Hussey said.
Originally published as Justin Langer recruits Mike Hussey to Australia’s Twenty20 coaching staff