David Hussey to continue as Melbourne Stars captain in upcoming BBL season

David Hussey has confirmed he will continue as the captain of Melbourne Stars in the upcoming season of Big Bash League (BBL). The 39-year-old ruled out replacing David Saker as Victoria's head coach, content to remain the Bushrangers' batting mentor. Saker recently became Australia's full-time bowling coach, succeeding Craig McDermott.


Hussey revealed he wasn't quite ready for the Bushrangers' top coaching gig. "I loved playing for Victoria and I want to be part of their coaching structure for many years to come, but I think it's a little bit too soon for me at the moment," Hussey told the Herald Sun on Friday (July 29).

Hussey said he was determined to help get a Victorian batsman into the Australian Test team after a barren run in recent years. No Victorian batsman outside Matthew Elliott and Chris Rogers, who was born in New South Wales and played most of his cricket in Western Australia, has managed 20 Test matches since Dean Jones was exiled from the national team in the early 1990s.

"I'm really passionate about getting the next young Victorian players, or batsman, into the Test team," Hussey said. "I think we've lacked a good quality batsman in the Test team for quite some time. I'd like to see a Marcus Stoinis or a Peter Handscomb or a young Sam Harper or Travis Dean even coming through and playing a lot of Test cricket for Australia."

After a heart-breaking loss to Sydney Thunder at the MCG in last year's BBL final, Hussey said he was motivated to play on in a determined bid to help the Stars have redemption. "I had a ball last year, a breath of fresh air, it felt like a new squad and I think (coach) Steve Fleming's brought a nice relaxed atmosphere and environment to the group," Hussey said. "I thought maybe there was a little bit of unfinished business losing in the grand final, hopefully we can go one step further this season."