Fuss over ‘Huss’ keeps SA’s issues under wraps

Sunday Times

TELFORD VICE, Melbourne

“HUSS,” Faf du Plessis said from his end of the pitch in the Melbourne Cricket Ground nets, “angles OK?”

“Looks alright,” Mike Hussey replied from the other end as he gathered balls for more throwdowns.

“Feels a bit off,” Du Plessis said.

Hussey approached, looked Du Plessis in the face with his fluorescent eyes - and yanked gently but firmly at the grille of his helmet as if to see if all the nuts and bolts were tightened.

This, then, is what Mr Cricket is doing for SA at the World Cup: making sure their heads are screwed on properly.

Hey, someone has to do it. South Africans who have been able to turn on a television since 1996 know that, when the chips are down and a trophy gleams in the distance, SA don’t know which way is up.

For the diplomatic version of exactly that, here’s Russell Domingo: “He’s a guy who has won a World Cup as a player. He’s been in pressure situations in Australia. He’s played under these conditions for a long period of time. His presence alone will serve as a big form of motivation for our players. He’s known as a very thoughtful cricketer. He plans meticulously in his personal game.

“Hopefully some of the things that he’s learnt playing in competitions like this he can pass on to our players - whether it’s in their mental preparations, their tactical strategy when going out to bat under pressure, whether it’s just thinking under certain conditions.”

AB de Villiers, too, had a go: “He’s been here to give us confirmation that we’re on the right track. He’s also told us when we were talking nonsense.”

Hussey himself, a veteran of 185 one-day internationals, among them 15 World Cup games, 11 of those played during Australia’s triumphant 2007 campaign, boxed more clever.

“I’m trying to pass on any knowledge I have,” he said, which covered “batting in the middle order in difficult situations in one-day cricket” and being “under enormous pressure, which you are going to be in World Cups”.

He was “watching some of the batsmen and seeing if you can pick up anything; it’s about a different pair of eyes, and then also talking a bit about Australian conditions.

“A lot of the players are seasoned, hardened, world-class professionals but there might be a little something I can add.”

So, what had he made of the South Africans so far?

“There is no ego, there is no arrogance; nothing like that. It’s very much a family feel. Everyone treats each other with a lot of respect. Doesn’t matter what race you are, what religion you follow, what colour you are. It does feel like everyone really respects each other.”

Not, then, like his Aussie experience?

“It’s fantastic for a young player to know that they would feel accepted from the word go, whereas certain teams that I have gone from, in Australia, there have been big names, big egos, big personalities. I’m not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing but it’s quite different. It’s quite refreshing to come into an environment where you feel respected.”

All of which has earned SA four fewer World Cup trophies than the number won by Australia, three of them in an era when both have competed for trophy. Clearly, SA need to change their approach. Or do they?

“To win World Cups, you need world class performers,” Hussey said. “You look down the list of the South African team, you’ve got De Villiers, (Hashim) Amla, (Dale) Steyn, (JP) Duminy, (Morne) Morkel.

“You need those guys to fire and play well in World Cups and then that fires the other guys. Quite often you need some unsung heroes as well. I think back to 2007 where we had our world class players like (Ricky) Ponting, (Matthew) Hayden, (Adam) Gilchrist and (Glenn) McGrath, but we also had a lot of unsung heroes like Brad Hogg and Nathan Bracken come in and do a really good job.

“I look at the SA team and see a lot of those world class stars and there might be some unsung heroes like David Miller, or one of the other bowlers can come in and do a job; someone like Imran Tahir.

“They have definitely got the squad to do it. You probably do need a bit of luck as well.”

So, not even Mr Cricket can put his finger on why SA have yet to win a World Cup.