Mike Hussey has joined Australia’s coaching staff in a wide-ranging role that will take him through the 2027 Ashes, the 2027 ODI World Cup, the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and the 2028 T20 World Cup, after turning down an approach from England to stay with his home country.
Cricket Australia announced on Thursday that the former batter, widely known as “Mr Cricket”, will work as a consultant coach for the Ashes and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2027, and as the side’s T20 advisor through the cycle that builds towards the LA Olympics and the T20 World Cup in 2028, which Australia and New Zealand will co-host.
Hussey, 51, will begin the role later this month with Australia’s home T20I series against England. Head coach Andrew McDonald is set to rest for that series, with assistant coach Andre Borovec taking charge, and Hussey will start his consultancy working alongside Borovec and a young squad. He will then help the team prepare for the Test series against New Zealand.
The appointment gives Hussey a formal role across all three formats after several short-term stints with the national side under McDonald, mainly as an extra batting consultant in the lead-up to the annual Perth Test. He has been unavailable for longer commitments until now because of his commentary work and his coaching positions with Chennai Super Kings in the IPL and Welsh Fire in The Hundred.
That CSK association has now ended. Hussey’s eight-year stint as the franchise’s batting coach — a role he had held since 2018 — came to a close this year as the franchise resets with a new coaching staff. The timing freed him to take on the expanded Australia role, although England also came calling: Stephen Fleming, his long-time colleague, approached him about joining his staff after taking over as England Test coach earlier this year. Hussey declined in favour of the broader consultancy with Australia.
His brief is wide. Cricket Australia said his T20 role covers “campaign strategy, opposition insights, player scouting and performance”, and he will continue to contribute to planning for the 2028 T20 events even when he is not travelling with the team. With a heavy schedule of Test cricket over the next 12 months, the idea is to keep the shortest format in focus while the Test side is busy.
“I am extremely excited about being a part of the team in a more formal and meaningful role in the coming years,” Hussey said. “This team has achieved so much in recent times, to which I hope I can add value to the coaching and playing groups ahead of what will be an exciting and challenging period.”
Hussey brings a heavyweight playing and coaching record to the job. He played more than 300 matches for Australia across formats, scoring 19 Test centuries during an eight-year international career before retiring at the start of 2013. After his playing days he built a coaching career that included being part of England’s staff when they won the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup under Matthew Mott.
McDonald welcomed the appointment, calling Hussey “a highly valued part of our staff in the past” whose expertise “as a player and coach across multiple formats, competitions, countries” is matched by his qualities as a person. Ben Oliver, Cricket Australia’s general manager of national teams, said Hussey’s extensive T20 experience would be vital as Australia prepare for the LA Olympics and the 2028 T20 World Cup.
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