30 December,2011 12:55 PM IST | | ANI
Mike Hussey, who has been under pressure to keep his spot in the Australian team in recent months, will end 2011 as Australia's highest Test run-scorer for the year after scoring 89 in the Boxing Day Test.
The fact that Hussey topped the list, with 680 runs at 42.5, is indicative of Australia's batting struggles over the past 12 months.
Despite not having topped 15 in his previous four innings this summer, Hussey's 89 in the second innings of the first Test against India at the MCG lifted him past captain Michael Clarke, who notched 618 runs for the year.
Further bolstering the case for Hussey's Test retention, he and Clarke are Australia's only batsmen to have scored multiple centuries this year, The Age reports.
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Apart from Hussey's three tons and Clarke's two, only three other Australian batsmen have reached triple-figures in 2011- Dave Warner, Shaun Marsh and Phil Hughes.
Clarke, Hussey and Brad Haddin were the only players to represent Australia in all nine Tests in 2011.
But while Clarke (38.62) and Hussey (42.5) returned respectable averages, Haddin averaged just 20.93.
