Aussie great Mike Hussey is happy doing whatever he can to help England turn his countrymen over on Friday, and would even help them in the Ashes if asked.
For a man who has done so much during his playing career to keep the Ashes in Australian hands, this is a heck of a turnaround, but after being signed up to coach the oldest enemy he is clear where his loyalties lie this week.
It is a position that has caused a bit of a stir among Aussie cricket circles with former teammates giving him a bit of ribbing, while incredibly there was a local radio station who wondered whether his new job as batting consultant to the likes of Jos Buttler was ‘unAustralian.’
That is taking things a bit too far, but it goes to show how deep the battle lines can run if you’ve been as good at cricket as Hussey. “I must admit the first time I did pull on the England shirt it was a little bit strange,” he said.
“My son William is pretty keen on it though. There have been a few quiet comments on the side from former teammates here and there, but they understand the coaching landscape. I’m very passionate about coaching and I love it.
“You get to work with the players and develop those individual relationships and you forget about what you're wearing. For me, there's a much bigger picture than just the Australia versus England rivalry.
“I think it's a great opportunity to be involved with a new team and see if I can help a few players. It will be a slightly weird feeling as an Australian to actually hope England's going to beat Australia, but that is what I'll be hoping for on Friday.
“I wouldn’t have any issues whatsoever with the Ashes either. I think Brendon’s done a fantastic job with that Test team in the short time he’s been there.”
Why Hussey should be treated any differently to current head coach and Aussie Matthew Mott or World Cup winning boss Trevor Bayliss is a fair question. But then he did average 59.26 with four hundreds in the Ashes which gave him a strong profile as a true blue, fair dinkum Aussie, with the zinc cream on the nose to boot.
Like so many Aussie players past and present, Hussey is a bit of an Anglophile having turned out for Northants, Gloucestershire and Durham across 148 first class, List A matches and T20, scoring almost 10,000 runs. And he would have passed plenty of advice and help on to young English players coming through. It is just now he can do it on the biggest stage with huge talents like Harry Brook.
“I’ve enjoyed working with Harry,” added Hussey. “He’s always open to any ideas. He just wants to get better. He really thinks about the game and he’s at that early phase in his career where he wants to soak up as much as he possibly can.
“He’s got a structure and a routine to his preparation, but then he’s such an instinctive player when he’s out in the middle. It took me a long time to learn how to do that, he’s got that at a lot younger age than what I did.”
