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MELBOURNE: Mike Hussey is back in contention to bat in the World Cup after earning a call up to Australia's 15-man squad as a replacement for injured fast bowler Doug Bollinger.
“I'm absolutely ecstatic I just can't wait to get over there,” said the 35-year-old, who was named in the original 15-man squad but was controversially removed due to selectors' fears his injury would not recover in time.
“Initially when I was told I wasn't going to be going, I thought that was it,” he told ABC radio.
“It was pretty demoralising but I was still very keen to get back and play as quickly as I could for WA (state side Western Australia).”
“I probably still need a little bit more work to get my skills right up to speed, to where they need to be, but it's just great to be out there playing and the hamstring feels great, to be honest.”
Hussey, the older brother of David who is also part of Australia's World Cup squad, ruptured the hamstring in January and managed only 30 runs over two innings in Western Australia's seven-wicket victory over Queensland in their Sheffield Shield match that finished Sunday.
Hussey, nicknamed “Mr. Cricket” for his dedication and passion for the game, was nonetheless Australia's top batsman in the recent Ashes series and has scored 4,469 runs in 151 one-day internationals at an average of 51.96.
Hussey said he hoped to slot straight back into the side for Australia's next match against Kenya in Bangalore on Sunday.
“But the team's been going very well, I don't know what they want to do,” said Hussey, a member of Ricky Ponting's victorious World Cup team in 2007.
“All I can do is just get over there as quickly as I can.
“I believe I'm flying out tomorrow around lunch time, so I'll join up with the team tomorrow night and then my preparation starts straight away.
“I'll be pretty much straight into the nets and preparing to play. Whether I do actually get to play straight away or not remains to be seen but I'll be preparing as though I'm going to be playing.”
