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Hussey critical of Aussie selectors

Cape Town - The 'other' Hussey, David, feels that the Australian selector's got the balance of the team sent to Sri Lanka all wrong.

Hussey feels that despite what his brother Michael thinks, Australia should have selected players who are good against spin rather than sticking with the tried and tested team.

The younger Hussey told SEN radio: "Why not? (choosing spin specialists). I know my brother said we should stick to the tried and true guys we've selected,

“But I disagree. I think you should pick batsmen who can score runs in the subcontinent, (who have) got good experience there in 'A' series and other series gone past, so I'd definitely be picking the better players of spin throughout the country."

Far from simply floating a generic opinion, Hussey went on to point to players whom he feels would have done well in Sri Lanka: "I'm up here in Townsville with the Aussie A team at the moment, and I've seen a couple of very good players of spin,

“There's Cameron Bancroft from Western Australia, who scored a big hundred in India playing for Australia A (in 2015). There's also Victoria's Peter Handscomb and Marcus Stoinis, who are very good players of spin as well. And Travis Head from South Australia is another – they're all very good players of spin."

Hussey called for moderation in the changes, and blooding youngsters gradually: "I'm not saying they should take the whole middle order out, or both opening spots, but (the batsmen he mentioned) should at least be thought about and possibly taken on tour as well. We have to do something – we've lost nine matches in a row on the subcontinent now.

"I think time's up – we have to do something radical. Our batsmen need to figure out a plan to try to score runs or try to stop the good balls hitting our stumps or hitting our pads in order to win games of cricket over there."

The former international believes the key to success on the subcontinent is the ability to play the ball late and having a good eye: "The conditions are foreign to us. I remember playing over there, and I'm regarded as a decent player of spin, and I found it very, very hard,

"You see the seam of the ball, lots of revolutions on it, and it goes straight. Then the same ball will turn big time, and you're at a loss. For me to counteract that it was getting lots and lots of practice in those conditions. You really have to watch the ball as long as you possibly can onto your cricket bat. I like using the analogy of Roger Federer watching the ball all the way onto his racquet."

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