Australia’s Hussey run out for 25 in what may be final test innings

By Stuart Condie

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SYDNEY, Australia — Australia’s Mike Hussey will have to wait to see whether he gets another chance to make one last big score before he retires from test cricket.

Teammates had predicted Hussey would sign off from his 79-match international career with a century against Sri Lanka at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but the 37-year-old batsman was dismissed for just 25 on Friday.

Hussey came to the crease with the score at 195-3 and was given a guard of honour by Sri Lanka’s players as he walked out to bat.

He looked composed batting alongside Michael Clarke but a risky single by his captain and a direct hit from Dimuth Karunaratne ended his innings with a run out.

Even Hussey’s renowned running between the wickets was not enough to make the ground and he paused only to watch a big-screen replay before trudging off the field to a standing ovation.

“It’s never nice to get run out,” No. 3 Phil Hughes said. “You could tell even looking from the side, Pup (Clarke) was obviously disappointed.”

Hussey’s dismissal made the score 251-4 in reply to Sri Lanka’s first-innings 294.

Australia finished the day on 342-6, 48 ahead, so Hussey may yet get another bat in the second innings.

Australia leads the series 2-0 after an innings victory in Melbourne and a 137-run win in Hobart, where he scored an unbeaten 115 for his 19th test century.

Hussey, who had to wait until he was 30 for his test debut, received loud acclaim from the 26,420 fans in SCG crowd for every action – including his three catches on Thursday’s first day.

Whatever the outcome of the match, Hughes said Australia needs to work on avoiding run outs after three in four innings this series.

“Call louder and clearer?” Hughes said. “It’s something we’ll talk about after the series. Three for the top three and four in the series.

“It’s something we’ve got to look at going forward and stop that.”

03:27ET 04-01-13