Mr Cricket by Michael Hussey Read Free Book Online Page B

especially the pre-season.
    During the first month, we’d meet on Sunday mornings about 10am and go for a four- or five-kilometre run along the soft sand at the beach. For the next 10 weeks we graduated to the sand hill, where Dad had marked out a track for us to follow. This track was about 800 metres long and everyone was timed. The intention, of course, was to better your time each lap. In the first week we’d do three laps, the following Sunday we’d do four laps and it would increase by one each week for 10 weeks. For the last five or six weeks leading into the season Dad would take us to the club and we’d work on skills and running on grass.
    The whole running and fitness thing wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. And it was optional. Some guys would go for a couple of weeks and then miss the next couple. Some wouldn’t come at all. Some had families and had better things to do with their Sunday mornings. But for Dave and I there was really no choice, as our Dad was the trainer!
    I’ve been asked a few times whether I wished Dad would have let us do our own thing, or if I felt scared or threatened by him. But I can say 100 per cent that neither Dave nor I was ever worried about him getting angry or aggressive. Explaining the way he acted and the things he said might make that hard to believe. But the key to it all was the way he delivered what he said. He didn’t say things in a way that sounded angry. It was more just about pushing us along. ‘Come on, push, push!’ he’d yell, but never with a nasty undertone. On the contrary, I found him to be very encouraging. If we ran a bad time he’d never say we had to ‘pick it up’ or that we’d done anything wrong. He just wanted to make sure that if we were doing an activity we knew that we should do it as well as we could. He never made it a competition between the guys in the team and certainly not between his two sons. My recollection of those Sunday-morning runs and training sessions was that I just wanted to be better, stronger and faster so I could please him and because I enjoyed it. And also to beat David!
    I enjoyed the fact that my father wanted to be so involved and I felt lucky for it. We enjoyed the tasks he set us. Ted’s a funny guy, a loveable character, and he provided for us a humorous, comforting and positive outlet for our energy and competitiveness. With his raspy ocker accent, he’d yell out some classic lines along the way. I’ve told the guys in the Australian team some of Dad’s quotes and they’ve all found them to be hilarious. Perhaps it wasn’t what he said, it was more the way he said it that was so funny. ‘I’m going to go halfway up the sand hill and offer encouragement,’ he used to say when were doing the Wanneroo pre-season work. Then he’d be up there screaming, ‘Come on you lazy things! Get your arms up! Knees knees knees!’
    It was like listening to the great former Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy, with his gravelly voice and pumped fist. ‘Never give in! Don’t give in!’ Dad would say, eyes narrowed into slits and his mouth cocked to one side. ‘Never let your opponent think he’s on top!’, ‘Never show any weakness!’ Later came lines like: ‘It’s mind over matter. I don’t mind and you don’t matter!’
    TED HUSSEY
    You don’t get anywhere without hard work. That was probably the most important lesson Helen and I taught the boys. Mike knew from a very early age that you’ll only get out of something what you put into it. Mike and David were both quite small when they were younger, yet have built themselves into solid men through hard work. Mike also had to apply himself strongly to his university work. That was another thing that didn’t come naturally to him and by working hard he got through it. In sport, they have both learned how to get the best out of themselves