IT'S been a long time since the Australian cricket team have been in a run of form that could be described as a malaise, but Ricky Ponting's side go into today's game at Riverside desperate to halt their current slide.

Two defeats to England and an embarrassing reverse against the Bangladeshi's last Saturday have left the world champions struggling to get this tour of England off the ground.

If they do turn around their form at Chester-le-Street they'll be needing Durham skipper Mike Hussey firing on all cylinders.

While his Aussie team-mates have been losing their heads all around him, Hussey has shown he is currently the one player Ponting can rely on to keep his composure.

Stylish knocks against England and Bangladesh will not have gone unnoticed amongst the Aussie selectors, and that may not be good news for Durham.

The county's hopes of seeing their skipper return to the fold after the one-day series ends may rest on how badly, rather than how well he performs over the next few weeks.

It's a fact not lost on Durham chief executive David Harker, who will be arguably more interested in the form of his skipper than that of homegrown duo Steve Harmison and Paul Collingwood.

Harker said: "One of the factors when we were looking for an overseas player was that ideally we were looking for someone who could be available to us throughout the season.

"At the time of choosing Mike he was available all year. Obviously he's got himself into the one-day squad.

"You'd hope that - from our point of view, from a selfish Durham point of view - he plays his one-day games then comes back to us.

"But there's no denying his talent and he'll not be too far away from an Australian call-up (to the Test team).

"But again if you want to be sure your overseas players aren't going to be playing international cricket you go for someone who's not quite as good."

The quality of Hussey was already evident before he hit a double hundred in Durham's opening Frizzell County Championship game of the season at Leicestershire's Grace Road.

He was the first-choice overseas player and, so high was the esteem the Western Australia left-hander was held in, he was appointed skipper before he'd lifted a bat in anger for his new county.

"I cannot fault Mike Hussey," said Harker. "You look for a number of things from your overseas player.

"Clearly you look for performances on the field and to get runs. He's done that - he was the country's leading run scorer before he left for international duty.

"You also look for him to bring some inspiration to the team, to the dressing room. He's done that.

"He's immensely focused, very committed, but not to the exclusion of everyone else.

"Some of these individuals can be so focused on their own performances that it's to the exclusion of everyone else.

"Mike's not like that. He's got a word for everyone. When you watch him play he's around the field all the time.

"He's been exactly what we needed and we're delighted with the way he's been performing.

"Martyn Moxon and Geoff Cook sat down and went through the list of names and they were both agreed that if we could go for anyone then Mike Hussey was the man to go for.

"We were looking, first and foremost, for someone who'd get us runs at the top of the order.

"One of the things we struggled with last year was getting through the first 35 overs.

"Very often we were three or more wickets down before there were 35 overs on the board. Then you've got your middle order up against it.

"Our middle order was so young they were coming in at 50 for three or something instead of being 150 for two.

"It was also about what he could bring to our younger players.

"Given that our problems seemed to be batting at the top of the order.

"If you watch how Mike goes about constructing an innings. In the first game down at Leicester he scored more than 200.

"He had to graft for that - it didn't come easy. He's capable of doing what needs to be done.

"If they're good enough to be captain as well then why not?"

With Durham hoping to make it a double promotion season, they'll be selfishly hoping their skipper's form does not warrant the Ashes call-up they fear.