MIKE Hussey always wanted to be Allan Border. So says his brother David, who would have relished coming up against his elder sibling at Trent Bridge last week had Mike been able to return to Durham.

The hard-hitting Nottinghamshire batsman is just over two years younger than Mike, who will be 31 next Saturday.

"When we were kids I had to spend hours doing the throwdowns for him - that's why I've got a crook shoulder, " he said.

"Mike used to admire people like Rod Marsh, then I remember we watched Allan Border make a big score one day and that was the man he wanted to be. Once he sets his mind on something he really goes for it."

While Hussey senior's surprisingly late elevation to the international game will prevent him from matching Border's record, he is now being compared with Michael Bevan, once considered the world's best one-day batsman.

"There's a bit of banter about all his not outs, " said David. "It's being suggested perhaps he ought to let a few hit the stumps.

"I'd like to see him open for Australia and hoped he might make his Test debut at Trent Bridge last summer because the openers weren't doing that well.

"I would have loved to have played against him here. He really enjoyed last season with Durham and was very keen to come back, but he needed the break. It was after he took a break from Northants that he really kicked on."

BARNSLEY fan Martyn Moxon is hoping to take advantage of a rare free Saturday in the cricket season this week by watching the League One play-off final against Swansea at Cardiff 's Millennium Stadium.

He enjoyed his revenge over Huddersfield supporter Alan Walker, the Durham bowling coach who saw both legs of the semi-final and was in best gloating form after his team's 1-0 away win.

Barnsley overturned that with a 3-1 win at Huddersfield and Moxon, who couldn't get a ticket, said: "Alan was one of the first to text me. I haven't really seen him since, but I will be mentioning it next week."

DURHAM always stay at the Village Hotel at Chilwell whenever they are playing Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire, and they were surprised last week to find Leicestershire also staying there for their match at Derby.

It meant the Foxes, one of the more impoverished counties, were very little closer to their match venue than had they stayed in their own homes. What made it even more surprising was that they checked out on Saturday morning, even though they were due to have a 10.45am start in a C & G match yesterday at Trent Bridge, eight miles from the hotel.

LEICESTERSHIRE are giving a trial to Western Australia seamer Steve Magoffin, who began the season as the professional at Swalwell. He played in a second team match against Warwickshire at Grace Road last week and is being considered as a replacement for Mohammad Asif, who is in the Pakistan squad for the three-Test series against England.

Magoffin is well known to Durham's Callum Thorp and to the Hussey brothers, Mike and David, and will have another Western Australian with Durham connections for company at Grace Road.

All-rounder Jim Allenby is now on the staff there after appearing for the Durham Board X1 three years ago when he was playing in the Durham Senior League. He then moved on to Brandon, where he smashed a league record with an innings of 260.

OTTIS Gibson need not have bothered thrashing the final ball of the Durham innings at Trent Bridge to the backward point boundary. They were on 398, intending to declare with maximum batting points as soon as they reached 400.

They got there the moment Andrew Harris's delivery left his hand as he had overstepped the mark and noballs add two to the total.

That's how Gibson's powerful cut for four lifted the total to 404, the immediate declaration leaving him one short of his 50.

THE road signs describe Nottinghamshire as Robin Hood County, which presumably means they still like to rob the rich to feed the poor.

That certainly seemed to be the case at a pub near my humble digs in the Vale of Belvoir, where they charged £2.75 for a pint of weak beer.

Perhaps the wealthy locals in that neck of the woods don't object to such prices, but it would be interesting to know how it benefits the poor. I only had the one.