Michael Hussey is trying not to let questions over his future affect his batting and took some of the pressure off himself.

The southpaw struck a battling 66 on day one of the first Test against the West Indies at the Gabba

Hussey, 34, has found his place in the Test line-up queried by sections of the Australian media of late but played an important role in move his side from 126 for two to 253 for three before chipping a catch to Suliman Benn.

Hussey has endured a rough stint in the longer form of the game, but did notch a century in his last Test appearance at the end of the Ashes and has fared well in one-day cricket having plundering a series-high 313 runs at 104 in the recent tour of India.

Speaking after Australia closed on 322 for five, with Simon Katich (92) and Ricky Ponting (55) also cracking half centuries, Hussey said: "I want to try and be as relaxed as possible and not put too much pressure on myself.

"I think when I'm playing my best, or when anyone's playing their best, it's when they're clam, relaxed and confident."

"Looking at my dismissals over the last year, there have been quite a few that have been a bit unlucky or maybe a bit out of my control, but the ones that I've stuffed up badly - I've been a bit tentative or trying a bit too hard."

As for whether his knock would help ease the pressure, Hussey was unconcerned.

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"I haven't really thought about it to be honest," he said.

"It was obviously good to get to 60-odd, but probably all of us are a little bit disappointed we couldn't go on, and one of us get a big hundred."

"The selectors haven't really spoken to me at all, (all they have said is) just that they're right behind me, they're backing me and they've proven that by selecting me for this Test."

"That's all I'm looking for at this stage."

"I'm trying to play as well as I can and contribute in this Test match and not really trying to look too far ahead from there."

Hussey was impressed with the performance of the West Indian bowling attack in what he considered favourable batting conditions.

"I thought they were pretty good," he said.

"(Kemar) Roach has got some good pace, he certainly hurried us all up and (Dwayne) Bravo is an excellent competitor and I thought Benn did a very good job today as well."

The West Indies efforts were soured by the news that spearhead Jerome Taylor was unable to bowl with the second new ball due to a sore left hip.

However Roach, who claimed figures of one for 50, expected his partner to be fit tomorrow and was pleased on the whole with his side's efforts on the opening day.

"I'm pretty satisfied, the guys put in a lot of work and we had a pretty good day. There were some chances, but we pulled through nice and to claim five wickets was good," Roach said.

"The wicket is a bit of batting wicket, and the ball wasn't really doing much, but we wanted to stick to the basics - good lines and lengths."