Hussey considered semi retirement

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Cricket's punishing international schedule prompted Michael Hussey to contemplate retiring from at least one form of the game. Hussey revealed he had used his recent sabbatical from cricket to evaluate his future and, after careful consideration, opted to continue in all three formats for Australia.

Once renowned as an indefatigable force in Australia's middle order, Hussey conceded that the constant grind of touring life had left him "mentally washed" during Australia's recent tour of South Africa. The ensuing directive by selectors to rest him from the one-day series against Pakistan provided Hussey with time to review his commitment to the game and, on the eve of his first away Ashes series, he admitted there was a difficult balance to find.

"I just threw it up in my own mind and thought, 'Well, is it something that we should be looking at?'" Hussey said. "I think probably a few of the guys were throwing it around. It's a difficult choice to make if you had to, but for me I don't really want to make that choice.

"I've thought about it a little bit. I would find it quite hard to come in and go out for one particular form. For me personally I want to try and play as much as I can. It took me so long to get one opportunity to play for Australia so I would like to play as much as I possibly can because I know my shelf life is a bit shorter than other guys who were able to start a bit younger."

The hype of an Ashes series coupled with a recent batting trough - he has scored 322 runs at 23.00 in his past eight Tests - prompted Hussey to admit he was feeling under more pressure than at any stage of his international career. That, he says, has placed a greater emphasis on Australia's tour match against Sussex at Hove, during which a number of players will be aiming to boost confidence and impress selectors.

"There's always a lot of pressure and I don't think there's any more pressure than coming into an Ashes series," he said. "Probably this is the most pressurised I've felt but that's just because we're playing up to this series right now.

"Everyone is going to be very keen to do well because I think we're all shooting for places in the first test team. Probably other than the captain, vice captain and a couple of other key players I don't think anybody can rest on their laurels. For me personally I'm really keen to get a couple of big scores and get the confidence up high coming into that first Test.

"I would like to really get a couple of good scores under my belt just so I can go into that first Test with some confidence under belt after not having played for quite a while and also not performing as well as I would have liked in the last couple of series."

Hussey has been impressed with England's performances under the stewardship of Andy Flower, and believes the current squad boasts greater depth than that of four years ago. England underwent a period of painful regression immediately after its 2005 Ashes triumph when a succession of injuries struck key personnel. And though the current line-up does not possess the intimidatory presence of four years ago, Hussey feels this England squad has more quality players at its disposal.

"Someone like [Graham] Onions has come in and done well, Anderson is a much better bowler than he was when he came to Australia last time, Stuart Broad has been bowling very," he said. "Plus I think their batsmen have been doing very well. I think they probably do have more depth than they did last time around."
Alex Brown is deputy editor of Cricinfo.