WITH Australia still licking their wounds following last weekend's double debacle, Mike Hussey has admitted he does not have the hitting power to match England's middle-order match-winners.

But, after returning to the North-East for today's day-night encounter at Riverside, the Durham skipper claimed the world champions have a better blend of players than their on-song opponents.

Hussey watched helplessly as Kevin Pietersen demolished the Australian attack at Bristol on Sunday and gazed at his television screen admiringly as Paul Collingwood blasted a quickfire century against Bangladesh two days later.

The pair have proved England now have the batting strength to alter the pace of an innings in its crucial middle stage, something that was previously the forte of the Aussies.

Hussey, who bats in the same middle-order slot as Pietersen and Collingwood, is expected to dictate the tempo of the Australian innings when he gets to the crease.

And, while he concedes he is a different type of player to England's aggressors, the 30-year-old is confident his team-mates have the versatility and variety to help him answer any question that is posed.

"I don't think you can compare me to someone like Kevin Pietersen," said Hussey. "But, in Andrew Symonds, we have someone who is probably from that sort of mould.

"I play a slightly different game and perform a slightly different task but I think that's what is so good about our cricket team. It's made up of lots of different characters and lots of different styles of cricketer. That means we can adapt to whatever environment we find ourselves in.

"How I go about the game is different to how anyone else does and that's what makes Australia so great - we complement each other very well. We've got a lot of very versatile players and I think that's important."

That versatility has been in short supply in recent weeks though, with Australia's batsmen struggling to cut loose against Bangladesh and their bowlers failing to stem the flow of English runs in the latter stages of Sunday's encounter.

Prior to last week's Twenty20 game at the Rose Bowl, some Australian bookmakers were taking bets on the tourists going through the whole summer unbeaten.

Now, those same odds-compilers are wondering where their side's next win is coming from but, to Hussey at least, Australia's slow start has come as no surprise.

While he was getting into an early-season groove with Durham, the vast majority of the tourists' travelling party were resting their weary limbs after 12 months of almost non-stop globetrotting.

"In the long run, I think that break will do them a lot of good," claimed Hussey. "I know those guys were really tired and needed a break.

"I was in a slightly different situation. They had been playing a lot of cricket in both forms of the game, whereas I came in right at the end of the season against New Zealand. I wasn't as jaded.

"I'm not involved in the Test matches and I know a lot of the focus in terms of the preparation has been centred on that. I don't think it will be too long before we're back to our best."