Border backs besieged Hussey, North to lift their game

SYDNEY - Former Australian skipper Allan Border has backed besieged batsmen Mike Hussey and Marcus North to lift their game against England

Critics had claimed that the Australian selectors uncertainty ensures that there are now major question marks over the likes of Hussey, North and Nathan Hauritz ahead of the Ashes opener in Brisbane.

Hussey, 35, and North, 31, will come under the microscope in Western Australia’s Shield game against Victoria at the MCG from Wednesday after being named alongside Usman Khawaja and Callum Ferguson in the extended Test squad.

“Those guys have got fantastic records and I am backing them in. The Ashes is the sort of series that gets the juices flowing,” Border said.

“You might be in ordinary touch leading into it but then all of a sudden you lift your game. And those guys are champions so that is what I am expecting,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted him, as saying. (ANI)