CL is stepping stone for Hussey

But it doesn’t come as a surprise that the 32-year-old finds himself out of the national one-day squad for the seven-match series against India because that knock came against lowly Scotland in August this year, while eight preceding innings against higher-ranked teams didn’t produce a single half-century.

A prolific scorer at the domestic level and in English County cricket like his more famous sibling Michael, David has not been able to replicate the success of his older brother at the international level. A tally of 598 runs from 23 games is hardly a reflection of his obvious talent, but hope rings eternal for the right-hander.

“It’s huge,” he said about playing for Australia. “Every time you play for Victoria, you've got to try and get as many runs as possible to try and help them win the match. If you win the match, then generally the Australian selectors look at you. We’ve just got Jon Holland (left-arm spinner) in the Australian one-day team because we’ve been winning matches back home, so hopefully if I do well in this tournament, I might get another opportunity,” remarked Hussey, here with the Victorian Bushrangers for the Champions League.

A knee injury to Callum Ferguson, also a middle-order bat, had raised Hussey’s hopes of coming back into the squad, but that slot went to Shaun Marsh. “You don't really wish illness or injury to anyone. Callum is a really good fellow who has done particularly well in the Australian one-day team. But hopefully, I get another opportunity because I know it will be a different result,” he stated.

Hussey, who plays for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, was one of the highest-paid players in the side at $625,000 and his love for the shortest format is all too apparent when he says the on-going CLT20 would be as successful as the IPL.

“It’s just going to get bigger and bigger, to be honest. I think there will be more teams joining in the competition and it will be the one which everyone will look forward to playing in at the start of the domestic summer. I hope it just gets bigger and bigger because all the boys over here are having a ball at the moment,” he noted.