Mike Hussey may have scored a century in just his second Test but he made sure he wasn't stepping on any teammate's toes in the process.

Hussey (116no) and Matt Hayden (110) paired up for a massive 231-run opening stand on day two in Hobart to put Australia in a seemingly impregnable position.

The home side is 1-256, leading by 107 runs with another nine wickets in hand at Bellerive Oval.

However at the end of the day's play Hayden was left laughing at the politeness of his new opening partner.

"It was quite funny because Mike came down the pitch and said, 'can I talk to you at all, is there anything you need me to say?' which I thought was very funny," said Hayden.

Hussey, who only made his debut in Brisbane this month, was just trying to be respectful towards the 75-Test veteran.

Hayden will go down in history as one of the finest batsmen to wear the baggy green and the West Australian did not want to disrupt the Queenslander's rhythm.

He has scored 978 Test runs for the calendar year at an average of 45, a remarkable effort considering he was nearly dropped two months ago.

"We're trying to get on with the job at hand, but he looked like he wanted to up the ante at that stage," the well-mannered Hussey said with a grin.

"I just wanted to know what he wanted me to say to keep him going, because he was hitting them pretty well."

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