September 3, 2025 • 10 mins
The 2026 edition of the Black Clash was officially annouced today, taking place on the 17th of January 2026 at the Bay Oval in Tauranga.
Pairing with this announcement was the naming of the Team Rugby wildcard for the event, former Australian international cricketer Mike 'Mr Cricket' Hussey.
D'Arcy caught up with Mr Cricket ahead of the announcement to discuss what excites him about the Black Clash.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Black Class and Association with Wolfbrook set to go mid
January to celebrate that, and well, it is it celebration
if you're into games like that, entertaining games. So we've
minaged to drag in. I say, old mate, not really,
but I feel like I'm close to them. His name
is Mike Hussey. International cricket at seventy nine Test one
(00:43):
hundred and eighty five One Day Internationals a fifty one
or a forty eight average. The guy is a dead
set freak and he's coming to play. Mike Hussey, welcome.
What do you know about the Black Clash.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
I talk for fair few people about it. I do
a lot of coaching with Steven Fleming and so he's
giving me a pretty good rundown about how it works.
My brother, Funny Enough, played in the very first Black Clash,
so he's told me it's a lot of fun and
a great day as well. So, and I've also been
able to coach quite a few New Zealanders of late.
I've had Ratch and Rivendra and Devin Conway at the
(01:14):
IPL with can I Super Kings, and Matt Henry in
the one hundred competition in the UK. So they all
speak really highly of it and say it's a lot
of fun, and they reckon that.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
The Rugby boys go pretty hard.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
They're pretty decent cricketers, so I'm looking forward to playing
with them.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Yeah, and a lot of those rugby players have got
gain too, including big scary man Karen Reid.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
I'm glad we're playing cricket and not rugby, that's for sure.
I would not want to run into any of those guys.
I played one day in the Nationals against Jeff Wilson
as well, you know, back back a fair few years ago.
So I have heard that, you know, some of the
rugby boys are a big cricket fans, and I believe
they take it pretty seriously. They sort of train up
for the contest. And I've also heard that we need
to win. The cricket Boys have won the last few
(01:57):
so it's time for team Rugby to have a win.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Do you feel a bit traitorous, Mike, You're playing for
the Rugby Boys and your name's mister cricket like. Do
use struggle with that? No, not at all.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
I'd probably feel more like a Trader. If I was
playing for New Zealand Cricket, you know, as an Australian,
that would feel a bit weird, I must admit. So
I'm pretty happy to be joining Team Rugby, to be honest,
and meeting you know these legendary all black and sort
of taking the field with him. It should be a
lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
And over the last couple of years they've had a
couple of superstars playing in the Black Clash, a guy
called Chris and a bloke called Brian, more commonly known
as mister Gail and mister Lara. You're in a pretty
esteemed company there, mister Cricket. No, I don't look at
it that way.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
I look at I've got massive shoes to fill and
I'm a bit nervous about that because I pretty much
haven't played a game of cricket in about a decade.
So I've got a little bit of practice to do
in Australia before I get over there in January. So yeah,
I'm feeling the pressure already.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
It's a long time to not play. Give any idea
what your forms like. You do know what in bad
to pick up, don't you?
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Sorry?
Speaker 3 (03:02):
I don't have any idea, what my form's like. I
do remember which end to hold, but I can assure
you I will be having a few nets sort of
before we get there, so hopefully I can come in
still remembering how to play a little bit. But yeah,
I'd like to help out a fair bit if it
possibly can.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
So what attitude are you taking into this match? So
you get over the white line and suddenly, oh no,
this is serious I am playing cricket. Or is there
a little bit of joy maybe that you carry on
to the deck with you.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
It's always joyful playing cricket, of course, you know, it's
always a beautiful day when you be able to get
out there and play cricket. But I mean, I'm an Australian.
We're playing against New Zealand cricketers. I don't like to
lose to New Zealand very often at all, so I'll
probably be bringing some sort of seriousness to it as well.
I don't want to lose the game against the Kiwis.
So yeah, hopefully we can we can get the job done.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Bit of white line fever, eh, Whether you're playing desk
cricket or the Black Clash or maybe grade to cricket,
you guys are just built like that.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Yeah, and I guess you're dealing with you know, former
and you know some of them are still current sort
of high performance athletes, and they do put a bit
of pride in their performance. So you do want to
I just don't want to embarrass myself, to be honest,
you know, So I'd like to know, do okay on
the day. But look, I'm looking to come over and
have a lot of fun as well. You know, I
think it's a great concept. I mean, the highlights that
(04:20):
I've seen in the past, the crowd gets right into it.
The rugby boys love their cricket that the cricket boys
love their rugby, and so it's just a great opportunity
to come and you know, connect with these guys, these
great athletes, and have a really good time over a
game of cricket.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Fencer, going back down memory lane and maybe reviving there
what was it a twenty four ball sixty against Pakistan
eighteen off one over? Do you want to go back
to those hells here in days?
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Oh my gosh, my memory is it was gone a
long long time ago. That feels like about one hundred
years ago. Now, I would love to be able to
go back to those days, but unfortunately, you know, those
days are long gone. So if I can just make
some sort of contribution along the way and offer a
bit of humor and sort of a good company for everyone,
then I'd be very happy.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Of course. Might you be playing against Tim Salvie the blokes, Well,
it's pretty much still playing, has only just stopped playing
international cricket. How do you get under his skin either
kind of player that might give him a bit a lip?
Do you reckon a but a bend to Mike.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
I won't be giving anyone any lip. I'll just be
keeping my head down. I'm a bum out and trying
to get some somehow find bad on ball.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
That's all every thing.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Yeah, I'm a bit nervous. Yeah, yeah, Tim's I'm coaching
in the one hundred competition and he's still playing as
one of the overseas players, so that's a little bit daunting.
But yeah, let's hope I can just sort of tactically
sort of knock him around and then maybe try and
get a few runs off the other boys.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Interesting camp the hundred, we haven't got it over here,
but plainly a big draw card. It's not just about
the money. It's obviously a great time. So how does
it work?
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Roughly, It's a great concept in a great format. Obviously
it's twenty balls shorter than a T twenty game, so
it's pretty exciting. You only bowl five ball sets or
overs if you like. You bowl ten balls from one
end and then you swap in, so the game moves
along really quickly. The crowds have been great. The standard's
really high as well. You've only got eight teams, you know,
(06:11):
from all the talent in the UK, excellent overseas players.
It's a pretty cool, pretty cool game, and the crowd
absolutely love it. So I feel very grateful to be involved.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
With Chatting Hot Spring, Black Clash and association with wolf
Brook and we've got the new recruit mister Mike Hussey
with us, mister Cricket. Do these nicknames run on the family?
Your brother David, what do you call him?
Speaker 3 (06:36):
I don't know, Dave. I remember playing an ASHES test
match at the Gabba and Jimmy Anderson called me Dave
for about three and a half hours. So I don't, like,
you know, look too much into the nicknames and things
like that. So I just I never liked the nickname
when I was first called it, I didn't think I
deserved it. I certainly felt a bit uncomfortablebout because there
was people that knew a lot more about cricket than
(06:57):
what I did and were way better than me. But
I guess you can be called a lot worse things,
so I'm happy. I was happy to run with it
for a while.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Who coined the nickname? How long ago? You carry it
around forever?
Speaker 3 (07:10):
It actually started when I was playing county cricket in
England and I was playing for Durham and we were
playing a four day game against Lancashire at Old Trafford
and it was one of those typical Manchester days where
it was cold and drizzly and gray and cloudy, and
no one really wanted to be there and was rugged up,
and except for me, I was loving it. I was
sort of batting out there and charging between the wickets
(07:31):
and calling loudly and right into every ball. And Andrew
Flintoff was playing the game and he turned to Brad Hodge,
who was the overseas professional for Lancashire, and just said,
who the hell is this guy? He must be mister cricket.
I don't think i've seen anyone love cricket more than
this guy. And unfortunately Brad Hodge brought it back to
Australia and it sort of stuck from there.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Michael. The landscape of cricket has changed dramatically since you
first started playing internationally. We've got the Gorilla leagues, if
you will, the pirate leagues of T twenty. There's questions
around the future of test cricket, what happens with one
day international cricket. There was so much going on, a
lot of complexities here. Which direction do you see the
(08:11):
game going in? Is it going to be that much
more based around the whims of the T twenty leagues?
Do they concentrate on test cricket? It's a big question.
But where's the game going Michael.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Yeah, I mean it's a great question and I don't
know where it's going to end up in the future. Well,
what I do know is that, yeah, there's more and
more of these leagues popping up. The leagues are getting
stronger and stronger, They're paying more money to the players
and so players want to be involved. So it's scary
for the future a little bit for international cricket. I mean,
I'm a bit of a traditionalist, I'd prefer playing for
(08:44):
your country as a pinnacle and number one, and then
if there's time around that you can go and play
in a few of the leagues, you know, whether that's
the IPL or the Hundred or or the Big Bash
or whatever it may be. I fear that the leagues,
because there's so much money being paid, that they're going
to drag a lot of these players away from playing
for their country. And then maybe every now and then
when there's a World Cup on that all the players
(09:04):
will come back together. So I hope we don't go
down that path, but I fear that that's the way
we're going.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
I know we might sound like old men looking back
and HARKing back to the past, but Test cricket is
the future. Surely, that's the pinnacle, this is the way forward.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Well I hope so too. I mean, Test cricket is
the best form of the game by far, and it's
where as a player you gain respect from your peers.
If you can perform in the hardest format, Test cricket,
then the respect only grows for you as a player.
And I mean, ultimately, the health of test cricket or
the future of test cricket will sort of land on
the current players. If they've got an appetite for it
(09:40):
and they want to play it and they respect it,
then I think it's definitely got a future. I mean,
playing in like an ASHES series or a series against
India is the pinnacle. You know, it is honestly the
best form of cricket you can be involved in. And
I think there's you know, a lot of the players
that I speak to around the world, they still see
test cricket as the pinnacle. So I hope that continues.
But who knows, the next generation of player might be different.
(10:02):
And yeah, so I'm fearful for test cricket in the future.
I must submit, but I still believe it's the best
by a long way. And I hope that you know,
the next generation of players, you know, appreciate the great
game of Test cricket as well.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to news talks
that'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Black Class and Association with Wolfbrook set to go mid
January to celebrate that, and well, it is it celebration
if you're into games like that, entertaining games. So we've
minaged to drag in. I say, old mate, not really,
but I feel like I'm close to them. His name
is Mike Hussey. International cricket at seventy nine Test one
(00:43):
hundred and eighty five One Day Internationals a fifty one
or a forty eight average. The guy is a dead
set freak and he's coming to play. Mike Hussey, welcome.
What do you know about the Black Clash.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
I talk for fair few people about it. I do
a lot of coaching with Steven Fleming and so he's
giving me a pretty good rundown about how it works.
My brother, Funny Enough, played in the very first Black Clash,
so he's told me it's a lot of fun and
a great day as well. So, and I've also been
able to coach quite a few New Zealanders of late.
I've had Ratch and Rivendra and Devin Conway at the
(01:14):
IPL with can I Super Kings, and Matt Henry in
the one hundred competition in the UK. So they all
speak really highly of it and say it's a lot
of fun, and they reckon that.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
The Rugby boys go pretty hard.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
They're pretty decent cricketers, so I'm looking forward to playing
with them.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Yeah, and a lot of those rugby players have got
gain too, including big scary man Karen Reid.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
I'm glad we're playing cricket and not rugby, that's for sure.
I would not want to run into any of those guys.
I played one day in the Nationals against Jeff Wilson
as well, you know, back back a fair few years ago.
So I have heard that, you know, some of the
rugby boys are a big cricket fans, and I believe
they take it pretty seriously. They sort of train up
for the contest. And I've also heard that we need
to win. The cricket Boys have won the last few
(01:57):
so it's time for team Rugby to have a win.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Do you feel a bit traitorous, Mike, You're playing for
the Rugby Boys and your name's mister cricket like. Do
use struggle with that? No, not at all.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
I'd probably feel more like a Trader. If I was
playing for New Zealand Cricket, you know, as an Australian,
that would feel a bit weird, I must admit. So
I'm pretty happy to be joining Team Rugby, to be honest,
and meeting you know these legendary all black and sort
of taking the field with him. It should be a
lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
And over the last couple of years they've had a
couple of superstars playing in the Black Clash, a guy
called Chris and a bloke called Brian, more commonly known
as mister Gail and mister Lara. You're in a pretty
esteemed company there, mister Cricket. No, I don't look at
it that way.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
I look at I've got massive shoes to fill and
I'm a bit nervous about that because I pretty much
haven't played a game of cricket in about a decade.
So I've got a little bit of practice to do
in Australia before I get over there in January. So yeah,
I'm feeling the pressure already.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
It's a long time to not play. Give any idea
what your forms like. You do know what in bad
to pick up, don't you?
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Sorry?
Speaker 3 (03:02):
I don't have any idea, what my form's like. I
do remember which end to hold, but I can assure
you I will be having a few nets sort of
before we get there, so hopefully I can come in
still remembering how to play a little bit. But yeah,
I'd like to help out a fair bit if it
possibly can.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
So what attitude are you taking into this match? So
you get over the white line and suddenly, oh no,
this is serious I am playing cricket. Or is there
a little bit of joy maybe that you carry on
to the deck with you.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
It's always joyful playing cricket, of course, you know, it's
always a beautiful day when you be able to get
out there and play cricket. But I mean, I'm an Australian.
We're playing against New Zealand cricketers. I don't like to
lose to New Zealand very often at all, so I'll
probably be bringing some sort of seriousness to it as well.
I don't want to lose the game against the Kiwis.
So yeah, hopefully we can we can get the job done.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Bit of white line fever, eh, Whether you're playing desk
cricket or the Black Clash or maybe grade to cricket,
you guys are just built like that.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Yeah, and I guess you're dealing with you know, former
and you know some of them are still current sort
of high performance athletes, and they do put a bit
of pride in their performance. So you do want to
I just don't want to embarrass myself, to be honest,
you know, So I'd like to know, do okay on
the day. But look, I'm looking to come over and
have a lot of fun as well. You know, I
think it's a great concept. I mean, the highlights that
(04:20):
I've seen in the past, the crowd gets right into it.
The rugby boys love their cricket that the cricket boys
love their rugby, and so it's just a great opportunity
to come and you know, connect with these guys, these
great athletes, and have a really good time over a
game of cricket.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Fencer, going back down memory lane and maybe reviving there
what was it a twenty four ball sixty against Pakistan
eighteen off one over? Do you want to go back
to those hells here in days?
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Oh my gosh, my memory is it was gone a
long long time ago. That feels like about one hundred
years ago. Now, I would love to be able to
go back to those days, but unfortunately, you know, those
days are long gone. So if I can just make
some sort of contribution along the way and offer a
bit of humor and sort of a good company for everyone,
then I'd be very happy.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Of course. Might you be playing against Tim Salvie the blokes, Well,
it's pretty much still playing, has only just stopped playing
international cricket. How do you get under his skin either
kind of player that might give him a bit a lip?
Do you reckon a but a bend to Mike.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
I won't be giving anyone any lip. I'll just be
keeping my head down. I'm a bum out and trying
to get some somehow find bad on ball.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
That's all every thing.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Yeah, I'm a bit nervous. Yeah, yeah, Tim's I'm coaching
in the one hundred competition and he's still playing as
one of the overseas players, so that's a little bit daunting.
But yeah, let's hope I can just sort of tactically
sort of knock him around and then maybe try and
get a few runs off the other boys.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Interesting camp the hundred, we haven't got it over here,
but plainly a big draw card. It's not just about
the money. It's obviously a great time. So how does
it work?
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Roughly, It's a great concept in a great format. Obviously
it's twenty balls shorter than a T twenty game, so
it's pretty exciting. You only bowl five ball sets or
overs if you like. You bowl ten balls from one
end and then you swap in, so the game moves
along really quickly. The crowds have been great. The standard's
really high as well. You've only got eight teams, you know,
(06:11):
from all the talent in the UK, excellent overseas players.
It's a pretty cool, pretty cool game, and the crowd
absolutely love it. So I feel very grateful to be involved.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
With Chatting Hot Spring, Black Clash and association with wolf
Brook and we've got the new recruit mister Mike Hussey
with us, mister Cricket. Do these nicknames run on the family?
Your brother David, what do you call him?
Speaker 3 (06:36):
I don't know, Dave. I remember playing an ASHES test
match at the Gabba and Jimmy Anderson called me Dave
for about three and a half hours. So I don't, like,
you know, look too much into the nicknames and things
like that. So I just I never liked the nickname
when I was first called it, I didn't think I
deserved it. I certainly felt a bit uncomfortablebout because there
was people that knew a lot more about cricket than
(06:57):
what I did and were way better than me. But
I guess you can be called a lot worse things,
so I'm happy. I was happy to run with it
for a while.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Who coined the nickname? How long ago? You carry it
around forever?
Speaker 3 (07:10):
It actually started when I was playing county cricket in
England and I was playing for Durham and we were
playing a four day game against Lancashire at Old Trafford
and it was one of those typical Manchester days where
it was cold and drizzly and gray and cloudy, and
no one really wanted to be there and was rugged up,
and except for me, I was loving it. I was
sort of batting out there and charging between the wickets
(07:31):
and calling loudly and right into every ball. And Andrew
Flintoff was playing the game and he turned to Brad Hodge,
who was the overseas professional for Lancashire, and just said,
who the hell is this guy? He must be mister cricket.
I don't think i've seen anyone love cricket more than
this guy. And unfortunately Brad Hodge brought it back to
Australia and it sort of stuck from there.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Michael. The landscape of cricket has changed dramatically since you
first started playing internationally. We've got the Gorilla leagues, if
you will, the pirate leagues of T twenty. There's questions
around the future of test cricket, what happens with one
day international cricket. There was so much going on, a
lot of complexities here. Which direction do you see the
(08:11):
game going in? Is it going to be that much
more based around the whims of the T twenty leagues?
Do they concentrate on test cricket? It's a big question.
But where's the game going Michael.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Yeah, I mean it's a great question and I don't
know where it's going to end up in the future. Well,
what I do know is that, yeah, there's more and
more of these leagues popping up. The leagues are getting
stronger and stronger, They're paying more money to the players
and so players want to be involved. So it's scary
for the future a little bit for international cricket. I mean,
I'm a bit of a traditionalist, I'd prefer playing for
(08:44):
your country as a pinnacle and number one, and then
if there's time around that you can go and play
in a few of the leagues, you know, whether that's
the IPL or the Hundred or or the Big Bash
or whatever it may be. I fear that the leagues,
because there's so much money being paid, that they're going
to drag a lot of these players away from playing
for their country. And then maybe every now and then
when there's a World Cup on that all the players
(09:04):
will come back together. So I hope we don't go
down that path, but I fear that that's the way
we're going.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
I know we might sound like old men looking back
and HARKing back to the past, but Test cricket is
the future. Surely, that's the pinnacle, this is the way forward.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Well I hope so too. I mean, Test cricket is
the best form of the game by far, and it's
where as a player you gain respect from your peers.
If you can perform in the hardest format, Test cricket,
then the respect only grows for you as a player.
And I mean, ultimately, the health of test cricket or
the future of test cricket will sort of land on
the current players. If they've got an appetite for it
(09:40):
and they want to play it and they respect it,
then I think it's definitely got a future. I mean,
playing in like an ASHES series or a series against
India is the pinnacle. You know, it is honestly the
best form of cricket you can be involved in. And
I think there's you know, a lot of the players
that I speak to around the world, they still see
test cricket as the pinnacle. So I hope that continues.
But who knows, the next generation of player might be different.
(10:02):
And yeah, so I'm fearful for test cricket in the future.
I must submit, but I still believe it's the best
by a long way. And I hope that you know,
the next generation of players, you know, appreciate the great
game of Test cricket as well.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to news talks
that'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.