Test sensation Michael Hussey has given a fascinating insight into Shane Warne's tactical nous as the champion leg-spinner prepares for his swansong from international cricket.
Describing it as an honour and privilege to have played Test cricket with Warne and Glenn McGrath, Australia's two most successful bowlers, Hussey, nicknamed Mr Cricket for his devotion to the game, recalled his Test debut when he was given a sneak preview into Warne's plan for his next over.
Fielding next to Hussey in the slip cordon, Warne told the Test debutant how he would lull West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan into a false sense of security by bowling wider and wider of off stump before zeroing in on his pads with a slider.
"He was going to try and start first ball on off stump, take him wide of off stump, third ball wider again of off stump, fourth ball just bring it back slightly and then he was going to go for the big slider lbw," Hussey said.
"I was at short leg for Shane's over and he executed the plan absolutely perfectly and Sarwan on the last ball of the over managed to get an inside edge onto the pad and wasn't dismissed."
"But you just see Shane Warne the way he was trying to get the guy out. He had the plan set and was able to execute it with the most difficult art of leg-spin bowling. That was a great snippet of how the guy goes about his cricket, how he uses his cricket brain to work guys out."
The 31-year-old, who admitted nerves had gotten the better of him in his debut Test, recalled how Warne had welcomed him into the Australian team in his own inimitable fashion.
"He pulled me aside in the toilet while he was having a fag and he just said to me, 'look, you don't have to prove anything to anyone, you're good enough to be here, you've just got to go out and play the same way you've been playing for the last 10 years'," Hussey said.
"That's what's got you here and just trust your game. We all think you're good enough to be here so you don't have to prove anything to us. And that was a really great thing for him to say to me because as a new player you're always trying to prove yourself to your team-mates to the opposition and to the rest of the world I guess."
As the curtain draws on the careers of Warne and McGrath, Hussey was thankful he had been given the chance to share the field with the departing greats.
"I would have loved to have done it earlier, there's no question about that. I'm just honoured and privileged to have had an opportunity just to play with these guys," he said.
"There's millions of people around the world that would love just to have the opportunity to see how these guys go about their cricket and I've been lucky enough to have had that opportunity."
"Whether it was one Test match or 10 Test matches or 100 Test matches with these guys I'm just really, really pleased that I've just been able to have that opportunity to get out onto the field with these guys."
