Jono
Virat Kohli (c)
Yeah I love Huss - comfortably my favourite Australian cricketer post Dizzy Gillespie - and it is his life and his career so I don't have a problem with his decision at all. But I find it odd that Cricinfo and others are saying this is perfectly timed. I find ESPNCricinfo's tweet "As always, Michael Hussey gets the timing right. Yet again." quite ridiculous. Yeah so he's not being dropped or retiring after a few years of his average falling, but he's leaving his team in a pretty concerning situation heading into one big series in India (no matter how poor India are travelling, Australia playing 4 tests in India, a place they haven't won in 8 years, is a big series) and one incredibly important series in England (Ashes, duh).Very poor timing, but it's his career I guess.
Certainly less than ideal for the team though. I suppose he doesn't owe them anything but it would have been nice if he gave an inclination.
I find Ponting's timing just as good. Yeah wasn't the ATG he was from 2007, or even a 50+ batsman anymore from 2009 onwards, but he certainly wasn't "more" selfish than Hussey, or get his timing any worse.
I'm sure everyone will be happy that Hussey's legacy will not be tarnished and his average nice and high, but if a new n00b Aussie batsman are struggling in the Ashes I'm sure no one will give a ****. Would have been much better if he played, even if his averaged dropped, if he contributed more than his replacement will/would.
Again I want to stress that as Hussey is retiring because he doesn't enjoy/look forward to the touring as much any longer, it is a perfectly fine, understandable and responsible decision. But I hate the fact people are praising it as some sort of example of how gun players should leave the game.