Mr Cricket (19 page)
HIGHEST TEST BATTING AVERAGES BY AN AUSTRALIAN
LEAST DAYS TO SCORE 1000 TEST RUNS
MICHAEL HUSSEY TEST CRICKET STATISTICS
Partly because of circumstances and partly because I am stringent about the way I prepare, I've never gone into a Test convinced that I'm not ready. I haven't played many Tests yet, but I have started to form a definite structure of preparation for a match that works best for me and I stick to it as closely as possible.
ASHES GOALS:
1. OUTCOME: Cement my place in the Test team
2. PERFORMANCE: Score three tons, score three fifties, win man-of-the-match awards
3. PROCESS: Set up well, relax body, clear mind, watch ball (batting keys), stick to plans, bat long periods of time, bat my way, fight and never give in
4. HOW/WHAT: nine hours sleep per night, eat well, basic at training, recovery, relax away from the game, face fears
5. THINGS TO WORK ON: Play very straight at training, groove my stance, watch ball out of the hand, catching, strong front arm, left foot not jumping in
6. BATTING KEYS: Eyes level, bat handle to bowler, top hand pick up, weight on heels, right shoulder tight to chin, wrist cocked, feet open slightly, back elbow tight, tap bat slightly open, bend knees.
My preparation for the lead-in to a Test match begins on the Sunday preceding it. We usually start the match on a Thursday, but arrive five days earlier. On that first night we settle in and do our own thing. We are lucky to be accommodated in nice hotels and, normally, the first thing I do when I move into my room is unpack my bags, get my creams out and put them away neatly. I'll hang up my shirts and set out my training gear so I know where everything is and set out my toiletries so it feels like home. That night I'll have a nice meal and,
later, sit back in my room and have some quiet time, or some âme time', as I like to call it. I enjoy that first night a lot because there is a sense of excitement. All the boys have met up and we all know that we are entering the home stretch before a Test match. It's a nice feeling.
The next day, Monday, is very busy. It always starts with a hard training session to blow out the cobwebs. All the batsmen will have a long hit and the bowlers a long bowl, knowing that we have plenty of time to recover before the match. It's a good workout; you can really throw yourself around in those few hours and give it everything you've got. Afterwards, we'll have a recovery session, which can consist of a swim or a massage, or maybe both. There is a lot to take care of away from cricket, too, and later that day we'll have meetings with various people. Cricket Australia officials come in to explain to us our obligations and how things will work during and leading into the match. There will be briefings by the coaches and sometimes sponsors will want to talk to us. Other officials will tell us what our media commitments will be and how that will all unfold. Later, we might have a signing session, which could mean signing hundreds of bats or shirts or books. Sometimes, at the end of all that, we will have a weights session. It's a big day, physically and mentally, and we're pretty knackered by the end of it.
On the Tuesday, we will have another good-volume day with lots of batting and fielding. There may be a few less meetings and official commitments, with a growing emphasis on recovery, massages and swimming. That night is always exciting because that's when we hold our main team meeting where we talk tactics.
On the Wedneday, the day before the match, everything is completely optional. If you don't want to turn up, you don't have to. And, this is where you start to see differences in the way players go about being ready for a Test. Someone like Glenn McGrath or Brett Lee, for instance, will get right away from the action. Glenn might go off sightseeing, or meet up with a friend, while Brett often spends the whole day playing his guitar. Basically they want to get away from people and the game and just recover so they are refreshed mentally and physically. I like to go to the optional training session, though I will only have a light hit, a few throw-downs or face some net bowlers for 10 or 15 minutes, just to keep things ticking over. That way I'll feel like everything is in working order, yet I'm still fresh. After that, I'll go into the dressing room to make sure my gear is all set out and ready to go. I want to be able to turn up the next day and have everything ready so I don't have any nasty surprises or last-minute dramas. That afternoon I will do my best to wind down. I'll go back to my room, pull the curtains closed, lock myself away from the world, watch a movie and try to relax and recover as much as I can.
On the Thursday, normally I'll be a bit nervous. But, once I start my match-day preparation, I start to feel more at ease. It begins with a team warm-up. We meet on the ground, have a bit of a chat and then get into what is generally a pretty structured loosening-up period, consisting primarily of jogging and a good, long stretch. Once we are feeling flexible, it's time to get the eye in. That's where Mike Young, our fielding coach, comes in. Mike will get us throwing to each other, short distances, long distances and throwing at the stumps. Next will be catching. There are always different types of catching to practise: short catching, high catching, fast, slow, whatever you want. I will normally go through a few disciplines. I like to have a good throw and I always make sure I do some short catching to get my eyes in and my feet moving.
After the warm-up, each player is free to do his own thing. Often, the bowlers will go out to the middle and roll their arms over. I'll usually go to the nets and get someone to throw me a few balls so I feel comfortable with the bat in my hand. I like to get back to the dressing room within half an hour of the start of play so I can have a drink, gather my thoughts and get ready to go.
Across each day in the lead-up to a Test, there are a few things I make sure I keep tabs on. One is my sleep. I try to get eight or nine hours' sleep every night. It's not always easy, as I suggested earlier. But if I get something near that many hours I feel as though I can mentally function well, physically I feel a lot fresher and I can get the best out of myself. Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me, particularly coming into a big Test. It will be ticking over and can be hard to shut down. If that's the case I'll take a sleeping tablet. I know they can make you feel drowsy the next day and are not the ideal remedy, but they have worked well for me, so I will keep taking them when I feel it helps.
The other thing I make sure of each day is to start off with a big hearty breakfast. That means the whole lot: cereal, fruit, bacon and eggs, pretty much whatever is on offer. Breakfast is very important because it gives me plenty of fuel to keep going. If I can have a good sleep and a hearty breakfast, I feel like I've put in place the building blocks for a productive day and am directing myself towards being ready for the match. Diet is one aspect of Sandy's advice I probably didn't follow as seriously as other things when I was younger because I was never overweight. I was skinny and what I ate didn't seem all that important. However, I was still interested in what foods I should eat to help me keep going all day playing cricket. Nowadays I get into carbohydrates, such as pasta, not so much the day before a game, but probably two or three days out, and a lighter meal the night before the game. I believe that gives me the energy I need. Other than that, I just keep a balanced diet, a good mix of fruit, vegetables, meat and carbohydrates. In the countdown to a game, though, a big breakfast each day is the most important meal for me.
While this all sounds very eccentric, it's pretty standard. All the players in the team go through a similar procedure, except, of course, on the day before the match, when everything is optional. It is the time between matches and, indeed, between seasons that you see big differences in the way individuals go about their business. Each one of us players has gone through a long process of refining and revising our routines, programs, diets and habits. I have spent thousands of hours over the past 15 or so years and spoken to countless people seeking advice on how to keep in the best possible shape and frame of mind to be able to achieve my goals.
The mental side of the game is in fact about 90 per cent of the reason for a player's success or failure. Yet we only work on the mental side about 10 per cent of the time. The difference between good players and those who reach the top is mental ability. So to play for Australia it's important to understand deeply the mental aspect of cricket.
I did away with my more peculiar superstitions a while ago but to this day there a number of things I know I need to do to achieve what I want to achieve. However, even if my preparation hasn't been perfect, I haven't hit a million balls and I don't feel quite 100 per cent, I can say to myself that it doesn't matter and that, if I get a start out in the middle, I'll be fine.
Ian Kevan the batting coach with his two students, me,
the Western Warrior, and Dave, the Victorian Bushranger.
IAN KEVAN
I retired from A-grade cricket in 1990 after about 260 games with Mount Lawley in Perth because I decided, as the old saying goes, to spend more time with the family. Not long after I stopped playing, I got a phone call from the WACA saying that a coaching vacancy had come up for the state Under 17s. I took on the job and it turned out to be quite a good team. Among the players was Damien Martyn, who played his club cricket at Wanneroo. I knew that Wanneroo had some other promising youngsters and part of my job involved scouting out the best players for the junior state squad. The officials at Wanneroo saw me around the place quite a bit and they started asking me to take on the role of club coach there. If anything I was interested in coaching at Mount Lawley, but Wanneroo were very keen, so I accepted the job there as well as the state job.
As a state selector I'd been aware of Michael as a small but gritty, somewhat dour opening batsman. I knew he had some ability to bowl leg spin as well, had some wicketkeeping talent and was very much a team player. He'd always help out his teammates, coaches and managers. Sometimes young players can give you a hard time on the road, but we thought Michael would be a good person to have on a tour. He was
regarded as nothing flash, but just a good all-round package.
We took Michael away and he didn't perform very well. It was quite rare for many young kids to stand out at these interstate carnivals. You would usually find that 13 guys would go away but only maybe two or three would do well. Michael was certainly nothing like Damien. Damien played one game at Under-19 level, scored 146 not out and the WA selectors rang up and said, âSend him home. We want him to play Shield cricket.' There are some kids that you just know have all the talent. Michael wasn't one of them and neither was Simon Katich, for that matter. But, in the back of my mind I knew that Michael could end up being the person Wanneroo would need to have open the batting in A-grade.
There must have been something special in the water that he drank, or something, because in that off season he underwent a massive growth spurt. I remember being at the indoor centre at Wanneroo and this bloke came in and said hello. I knew the voice but it took me a while to register that it was Mike because his appearance had changed so much.
It just so happened that around that time Michael first approached me to see if we could do some extra work on his batting. I'd been influenced by John Inverarity a little earlier when I'd been lucky enough to do a course over at the Cricket Academy, where John was teaching, and he'd given me some great new ideas about batting, which I tested out with Michael. It involved drills where you would underarm, or even roll the ball along the ground to the player, who was just a few metres away. We worked on driving at the start, off-driving, straight driving, on-driving and square driving. We had a simple theory that playing cricket is all about getting your body in the right position to play the ball. So we worked a lot on Mike's posture, getting his head forward and transferring his weight and then hitting the ball and following through as though you were trying to hit the fielder under the chin with the end of your bat. It made sense to Michael. I knew he had sound technique off the back foot so we just hammered away at drives. (And, just as a sideline, we never went near a bowling machine in his first couple of years. I think there's something to that â¦)
I don't know what was pushing Mike; maybe the fact he'd always been smaller than the others and he felt he had to make it up through working hard on his technique. I don't know, but he had a determination factor that was nearly unmeasurable. These hits we were having became like clockwork. He was never late for a session. He would always be there before me. There were never any distractions to what he wanted to do. He was young and studying at university and doing what young people do. But he always seemed to have time to do extra hours of training and he never rushed the sessions. He would have all his gear ready and prepared. I can never remember a session when he forgot to bring something. He was completely switched on.
Michael was so eager and keen to learn and was willing to train and train. Soon we were having hits three or four nights a week. We counted the number of hits at one stage and it came to nearly 1000 balls across the week. He never once complained. He never said he wanted a break and always accepted whatever I suggested. If I'd wanted to throw 2000 balls, he would have taken them. His hands would have bled but he would have kept going. Eventually the sessions got to the point where we hardly even spoke. He knew exactly what he had to do, would turn up totally prepared and we'd get straight into it. It was quite remarkable.
Michael was not advanced in terms of ability back then, but between the ears he was something special. I train some guys now who think they're going to play cricket for Australia. But they are kidding themselves because they aren't willing to work nearly as hard as Michael did. They talk about when they're going to get picked and all that rubbish, but Michael never spoke about playing for Australia. I knew he dreamt of it, but it wasn't spoken about. He just loved the idea of working at something and getting better at it.
I couldn't help but be impressed with Michael's attitude and we started to see that he was competing well with the top bowlers at the club. I began thinking it was time to give him a chance in A-grade. Two weeks before the season we had a chat and when I asked him how he thought he was progressing he just said, âAlright.' I asked him which grade he thought he would start off in and he said, âI'd like to play seconds but, really, I'll probably be in the thirds.' The next day we told him he'd be opening in A-grade. He couldn't believe it.
Technically I knew he would be okay, but the doubt I had in my mind was how he'd go mentally. The first game we had was against a club that happened to have a couple of hard nuts opening the bowling, too, so I was a little worried it might break him instead of make him. But, about 10 minutes into that game, we knew we'd made the right decision. He really took on the job. I think he only made about 18 in his first knock, but he batted for about an hour and fought hard. In his third A-grade game he was run out for 88, so he progressed pretty quickly.
Over the years, one of the things that has really struck me about Michael is that he's very good at accepting advice from people. It served him well early on and then, as he became more confident and knowledgable, he was very good at working out what suited him and what didn't. Players get caught up taking on everything. Michael took on all the advice I could give him, but there wasn't all that much to it. I was a former player but I didn't know anything about biomechanics or anything fancy like that. We kept it simple and it worked for both of us. Even now when we have sessions when he's back in Perth it's still only about 50:50 with the bowling machine. He still likes me to underarm them and throw them and maybe finish by practising the pull or cut with the use of a bowling machine.
But in those early years I told him to listen and try everything and then he could decide later whether he wanted to hold on to those pieces of advice or let them go. I wanted him to listen to a wide variety of people. He told me once about an Australia-A tour to Scotland where he sat down one night with Allan Border and Matthew Hayden and they discussed the sweep shot and the technique needed. He spoke to me about it and â who was I to argue with those blokes â we started working on what they had said.
There is no doubt about it: it is Mike's work ethic that is the reason he is where he is now. After that same Australia-A tour he came back and said, âAllan Border reckons we should train for six hours a day.' I didn't take Michael too seriously. We used to have a bye in the competition in those days and he approached me and said, âHow about on Saturday when we have the bye, we do a six hour practice?' We went to the indoor centre and started with two hours of variety â underarms, overarms, bowling machines, hitting to different parts of the ground â then we had a lunch break, and did another two hours. We had a tea break and then did another two hours. I just about collapsed. Our lower grades were playing that day. During one of the breaks I actually fell asleep because I was buggered. When I woke up I asked one of the fellas nearby where Michael had gone and he said, âHe's just gone for a run.' I couldn't believe it.
It wasn't unusual for him to take things quite literally like that. At the Academy they suggested he keep a diary, so he wrote down absolutely everything. I was always a bit sceptical about all that sort of thing â if you get a hundred, write down whether the sun was shining or whatever. For me it was more about common sense. But it worked for Michael so it was great and you can't deny that for him it was worthwhile.
Another thing that stands out in my mind when I think about why Mike is successful now is that way back at age 20 or 21, he seemed to have a really obvious potential to lead. He would have people follow him, not so much because he was a good batsman, but more because he was a good bloke. At the club, Michael was in the As, but he had a lot of mates from all the grades. Sometimes at clubs, players get into A-grade and get a big head and stop socialising with people from the lower grades. But that was a quality of Michael's that I liked. He had no ego at all. Even now I tell him that he's just a cricketer; he's just there to entertain people. He knows that. He doesn't see himself as a hero. It's not like he's inventing a cure for cancer or anything like that.
I don't know everything about Michael, but I do think that one of the reasons we've had such a good association for so long was because we
both shared a bit of a fear of failure. I played my cricket like that and I suspected that he struggled a bit with confidence, even though it was hard to pick up. He thought he'd start off in thirds at the club. When he got picked for WA I know that he wondered for a long time whether he was good enough. Even now, I think he still battles with that a bit. But I don't think it's a bad thing. I think it's good to have some fear because it makes you try harder. It can steel you and that's what it did for Michael.
I remember we were working away in the nets one day a long time ago and he said, âI don't know how I can ever repay you for this.' I shook my head and just said it's not an issue. He promised that he'd sponsor me to come to his first Test match. We had a bit of a chuckle about it and that was that. When he was selected to join the Australian squad for that Test in Brisbane he rang me and said, âWhat are you doing on Thursday?' I said, âNothing much. Watching the cricket on the TV, I guess.' He said, âHow would you like to come to Brisbane?' He'd just found out that he was going to start the match and rang me almost straight away to tell me to get over there.
It was a great thrill for me to go to Brisbane with his family. But we all felt so bad for Mike when he got out in the first innings for one. I saw him a couple of nights later and he was deeply hurt that he hadn't succeeded for his family. He felt like they'd all come over to watch him and he'd let everyone down. It just reinforced in my mind that there is a very different quality about this guy compared to most cricketers.
In the second innings he got out for 29 and was shattered that he hadn't gone on. Then in his second Test he got a hundred and then just kept going in his next few Tests. All of a sudden we had this mad run-making machine. Often you hear on the TV when Michael's batting the commentators say that his technique is as good as anybody's. It makes me feel good to know that I had something to do with that.