Under David Hussey’s captaincy, the Melbourne Stars finished as finalists in 2015-16, before being knocked out in the semi-final in 2016-17 © Cricket Australia/Getty Images
Former Australia batsman David Hussey has announced his retirement from the Big Bash League following the Melbourne Stars’ loss against the Perth Scorchers in the semi-final on Tuesday. Hussey had retired from all other formats after the 2014-15 summer and had only played in the BBL since then.
Hussey had been part of the Stars’ squad since the inaugural edition of the BBL and was captain for the last two seasons. Under his leadership, the Stars finished as finalists in 2015-16, losing to the Sydney Thunder; on Tuesday, they lost to the Scorchers by seven wickets.
Hussey confirmed his decision to retire on Twitter and told the SEN radio network that he did not want to stop a young player coming through the ranks by holding up a spot.
“I’m done. I spoke to the boys quietly last night,” he said. “It’s amazing what you want to do, but you can’t actually do it anymore…I’m still pretty emotional about it.
“I’m sort of stopping a progressing of a young player coming through the ranks and achieving their dreams of playing at the highest possible level. It’s time to move on, but very thankful for what I’ve achieved in the game.”
Hussey scored 855 runs in 48 matches for the Stars across six seasons, with three fifties. Overall, Hussey played 267 T20 matches, scoring 6097 runs, at a strike rate of 133.20, with one century and 31 fifties.
He played 108 limited-overs international matches for Australia between 2008 and 2013, scoring 2552 runs with one ODI century – against Scotland in 2009. In 2015, he completed a Level III coaching qualificatio, having served as a batting coach with Cricket Victoria for a couple of seasons previously while playing domestic cricket. Last year, he served as assistant coach of the Australia A side for a quadrangular series that also featured South Africa A, India A and the National Performance Squad.
Apart from the Big Bash League, Hussey also had stints in the Indian Premier League, the Caribbean Premier League, and domestic T20 tournaments in England and New Zealand.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo