Outgoing Melbourne Stars coach says there’s a sense of “relief” after his time in charge of the franchise came to an end.
It was revealed before the season that BBL|12 would be Hussey’s last in charge since taking over from Stephen Fleming in 2019.
Having finished runners-up in Hussey’s first season, the last three campaigns have seen the Stars miss finals as injuries and poor form cruelled the side.
While Hussey was disappointed not to achieve what he set out to, he is glad that someone else now has the chance to help the playing group reach their potential.
“There’s a tinge of sadness because I haven’t achieved what I set out to achieve, particularly with this group,” Hussey told SEN Mornings.
“It’s a very talented group of players, so that’s a disappointing thing and one of the regrets I have.
"But there’s a tinge of relief that someone can come in, take this group forward and hopefully get the best out of them.”
With a last-placed finish this season locked in, Hussey was asked where it all went wrong for the Stars in BBL|12.
“That’s all on me, I’m the head coach and my assistants - guys like Ben Rohrer have been unbelievable,” Hussey replied.
“They’ve been working incredibly hard and going above and beyond to prepare the players and make sure they are doing the best they possibly can.
“But unfortunately the strategies I have put in place haven’t given our players the chance to execute their skills under pressure on the MCG and it’s time for someone else to take that reign on and hopefully they can get the best out of the players.
“I hope they achieve their dreams of winning the BBL.”
Having accepted the position of head of men’s cricket for Cricket Victoria, Hussey says the reason he stepped away from the Stars is that he felt it was unethical given he’d be overseeing both Melbourne-based BBL franchises from next season.
"No, I didn’t want to do it,” Hussey said.
“It’s unethical to be the head of men’s Victorian cricket and then sort of make decisions on green (Stars) and red (Renegades) at the same time.
“It was too unethical, you’d probably go into meetings and be biased towards the Stars and Stars players so that’s just a clean fresh break.
“I can focus on the blue (Victorian) stuff and help out the red team and the green team going forward.”
Hussey has held his new role since September but will now also take charge of all Melbourne Renegades aspects of the program after Graham Manou oversaw their BBL season.