Nasser Hussain
Encyclopedia
Nasser Hussain OBE (born 28 March 1968, Madras
, India) is a former Essex
and England
cricket
er.
Beginning his career in a strong Essex side in the late 1980s, he was an outstanding fielder and a stylish but inconsistent batsman. In first-class cricket
from 1987 to 2004 Hussain scored 20,698 runs in 334 matches at an average of 42.06, including 52 centuries. A pugnacious right-handed batsman, Hussain's highest Test score was 207, scored in the first Test of the 1997 Ashes at Edgbaston
.
Hussain is regarded as one of the best England Test Cricket Captains of the era for his part in transforming the side from a habitually under-performing team to one of achievement. Simon Barnes
of The Times wrote that "Hussain is the most significant cricketer to have played for England since the war and perhaps the finest captain to hold the office."
(also known as "Joe"), and mother Patricia. Hussain was educated at Forest School, Walthamstow, and then received a degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Durham. His father and brother, Mehriyar Hussain, have both played first-class cricket, for Tamil Nadu
and Worcestershire
, respectively.
As a child, Nasser's first experiences of cricket were family visits to Chepauk
, where his elder brothers Mehriyar (Mel) and Abbas used to bat on the outfield while he chased after the ball. Jawad Hussain moved with his family to England in 1975, and later took charge of the indoor cricket school in Ilford where Nasser used to bowl for hours on end at his elder brothers, and not just because he was the youngest: he was a naturally talented leg-spin bowler. With his talent starting to show, at just eight years old, Nasser was selected to play for the Essex Under-11s, and at 12 years old he was the youngest to play for Essex Under-15s.
At the age of 14 Hussain was selected to play for England Schools where he first came into contact with his friend and future England colleague Mike Atherton
. Born five days apart, Hussain and Mike Atherton soon found their careers progressing in parallel as they captained, batted and bowled legspin for England age-group teams.
As well as Atherton, who was considered the "Golden Boy" of the North at the time, Hussain played with and against others such as Mark Ramprakash
, Graham Thorpe
and Trevor Ward
. But at the age of 15, and captain of England Schools, Hussain suddenly lost his ability to bowl. In the off season Hussain "grew a foot in height in the winter" and the trajectory of his bowling was therefore altered. He recounts "I went from bowling out Graham Gooch in the indoor school with everyone watching, to hitting the roof of the net or bowling triple-bouncers to deadly silence."
Hussain's father initially refused to accept that his son couldn't bowl to the previous high standards and continued to push him into bowling, while Hussain, full of frustration at his sudden loss of ability felt he was letting his father down. For a while he dropped behind his contemporaries; boys like Atherton, Ramprakash and Martin Bicknell
were beginning to receive professional county contracts while Hussain was missing out on representative games and England tours. So Hussain took the decision to make himself a batsman. Luckily he was still captain of Essex under-16s and so moved himself up the order to get more runs and to bowl less. His determination paid off and his batting progressed, and in that year he became the first boy at Forest to score 1000 runs in a season since 1901.
Hussain himself admits that batting never came as naturally to him as leg-spin bowling. Vestiges of this manufacturing process remain in his technique: he bats with little left elbow and plenty of bottom hand, and backs up with the bat in his right hand.
, but England won by nine wickets, their first victory against West Indies in sixteen years and 30 Tests. When it ended, just before lunch on the final day, the game's established order had been so dramatically overturned that even those within the England party were scarcely able to absorb the fact.
However, England went on to lose the series 2-1 and despite the heady first test, Hussain found himself the victim of the selection policy, that of high churn and inconsistency, and was subsequently not picked for the next three years. Hussain was also regarded as a bit of a hot-head, and it was argued that his fiery temper (which gained him so much in his latter career) in the early days briefly jeopardised his prospects of an international career. However at Essex Hussain continued to score runs and impress his County colleague and England Captain Graham Gooch
enough to have a Test reprieve. So at the 3rd Ashes Test of 1993, Hussain joined an England team that had four debutants, the most notable being Graham Thorpe
, one of Hussain's closest allies and team-mates, who scored a century on debut. There were also four Essex players in the team. Hussain scored 71 and 47 not out, which was enough to see him selected for the rest of the series. It was however not enough to secure his place for the subsequent winter tour, nor for that matter the next three years of Test matches as the selectors once again decided to look elsewhere.
Hussain managed to cement his place in the Test side when he was picked again for the Test series against India in the summer of 1996. The number 3 batting position had been troublesome for England for some time. England had tried all manner of combinations at No. 3, from the left-field Jason Gallian
to the veteran Robin Smith
, via the temperamentally suspect pairing of Graeme Hick
and Mark Ramprakash
. "A lot is made of your batting position," Hussain recalled to Cricinfo, "but I always felt, and I did back then when David Lloyd
rang me up and asked me to bat No. 3, that if you're good enough to be playing Test cricket, you should be good enough to move from No.5 to No.3".
Hussain was given the berth and didn't disappoint by scoring 128 in the first innings. Hussain was awarded Man of The Match and with another century in the last Test that summer was awarded Man of the Series.
of the England team for 45 Test match
es from 1999 to 2003; only Michael Atherton and Michael Vaughan
have captained England in more matches. He also has the fourth most Test victories as England captain, with 17, behind only Vaughan (26), Peter May (20) and Mike Brearley
(18). His percentage of Tests won was higher than any of the previous five captains, i.e. since Bob Willis
.
Taking over from Alec Stewart in July 1999, Hussain became Test captain when English cricket was at a low point, and his first series in charge saw England lose to New Zealand
at home, after which he was booed by the England fans as he and his team stood on the pavilion balcony. However, in 2000 he led England to a 3-1 victory over the West Indies at home, and in that winter, the England team beat both Pakistan and Sri Lanka away. Under the new regime, England won four Test series in a row for the first time since Brearley, and rose to third place in the ICC Test Championship table when it was launched, after being ninth and last in the prototype Wisden World Championship in September 1999.
Hussain's style of captaincy was a reflection of his personality, never static, always full of energy and ideas. He was known to make four field-changes in one over in a Test match, searching for the solution, trying to make up for the lack of variety among his attack of mostly right-arm seamers with his own imaginative placements. His batting while captain veered from one extreme to another, from the heights of England's tour to South Africa to a worse run than even Brearley knew.
Yet so widespread was the recognition of Hussain's merit as captain that his place was never questioned, unlike Brearley's. Nor were there many calls for his head despite consecutive Ashes drubbings in 2001 and 2002-03. Hussain established himself as the best and - not coincidentally - the most articulate England captain since Mike Brearley.
Hussain was captain of both the Test and One Day International England teams until after the 2003 Cricket World Cup
, when England failed to make the second round after boycotting the match against Zimbabwe
in Harare
, citing security concerns. But as he stated in his autobiography Playing With Fire, the whole Zimbabwe question and the responsibility left to the captain on making a decision whether to play against a country whose cricket team was politically run, on behalf of the young English and the ECB, was a question that "kept him awake at night".
Immediately after the 2003 Cricket World Cup, after coming under heavy criticism, he stepped down as one-day captain, passing on the reins to Michael Vaughan
. Later in 2003, Hussain announced his retirement as Test captain after England had been on the receiving end of Graeme Smith
's 277 but had narrowly clung on for a draw in the first Test against South Africa
, again being replaced by Vaughan. Vaughan's captaincy career would subsequently echo Hussain's: Vaughan resigned the one-day captaincy after a poor showing at the 2007 Cricket World Cup
and subsequently resigned the Test captaincy after a series loss, which was instigated by Graeme Smith's batting.
Hussain continued as a batsman in the Test team until May 2004; in a symbolic changing of the guard, Hussain's final Test, against New Zealand
at Lord's, was Andrew Strauss
' debut Test. Strauss scored 112 and 83, and Hussain scored 34 and 103 not out; although Hussain ran Strauss out in the second innings, he had the honour of hitting the winning runs. Satisfied with his replacement, Hussain announced his immediate retirement from international and first-class cricket on 27 May 2004.
Hussain's highest score of 115 occurred in perhaps the most memorable of his One Day Internationals. Described by BBC
correspondent Jonathan Agnew
as "the most exciting one-day international" he had ever seen, India
overhauled England's 326 at Lords
, their highest score for ten years, to win with 3 balls to spare in the summer of 2002.
For some time before the game, Hussain's position in the ODI team and his insistence of batting at number three had been repeatedly questioned by the press, most notably Sky Sports commentators, and future colleagues, Ian Botham
and Bob Willis
.
Hussain responded to those critics with a typically belligerent innings, and along with the faster scoring Marcus Trescothick
added 185 off just 167 balls. But after reaching three figures Hussain gestured wildly to the press box, in defiance of the critics who had questioned his decision to bat at number three, by pointing to the number 3 on his back and raising three fingers to the media box and the ex-professionals who frequented it.
Despite the century and the gesture, it was felt by some members of the media that the slow innings had proved the truth of their criticisms, and some even stated that "Captain Angry" had made a rod for his own back.
and has worked at New Hall School
http://www.newhallschool.co.uk in Chelmsford as their cricket professional.
He also played himself in a Bollywood movie, Patiala House
.
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, India) is a former Essex
Essex County Cricket Club
Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...
and England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er.
Beginning his career in a strong Essex side in the late 1980s, he was an outstanding fielder and a stylish but inconsistent batsman. In first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
from 1987 to 2004 Hussain scored 20,698 runs in 334 matches at an average of 42.06, including 52 centuries. A pugnacious right-handed batsman, Hussain's highest Test score was 207, scored in the first Test of the 1997 Ashes at Edgbaston
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...
.
Hussain is regarded as one of the best England Test Cricket Captains of the era for his part in transforming the side from a habitually under-performing team to one of achievement. Simon Barnes
Simon Barnes
Simon Barnes is an English journalist. He is currently Chief Sports Writer of The Times. He also writes a column on wildlife in the Saturday edition of The Times....
of The Times wrote that "Hussain is the most significant cricketer to have played for England since the war and perhaps the finest captain to hold the office."
Early years
Hussain was born of an Indian Muslim father, Jawad HussainJawad Hussain
R Jawad "Joe" Hussain was an Indian cricketer. He played only one first-class match, for Tamil Nadu against Andhra in the 1964-65 Ranji Trophy...
(also known as "Joe"), and mother Patricia. Hussain was educated at Forest School, Walthamstow, and then received a degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Durham. His father and brother, Mehriyar Hussain, have both played first-class cricket, for Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
and Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...
, respectively.
As a child, Nasser's first experiences of cricket were family visits to Chepauk
Chepauk
Chepauk is a locality in Chennai , in India. The name Chepauk is popularly used to refer to the M. A. Chidambaram International Cricket Stadium also known as Chepauk Stadium. It is also home to the Chepauk palace, built in the Indo-Saracenic style...
, where his elder brothers Mehriyar (Mel) and Abbas used to bat on the outfield while he chased after the ball. Jawad Hussain moved with his family to England in 1975, and later took charge of the indoor cricket school in Ilford where Nasser used to bowl for hours on end at his elder brothers, and not just because he was the youngest: he was a naturally talented leg-spin bowler. With his talent starting to show, at just eight years old, Nasser was selected to play for the Essex Under-11s, and at 12 years old he was the youngest to play for Essex Under-15s.
At the age of 14 Hussain was selected to play for England Schools where he first came into contact with his friend and future England colleague Mike Atherton
Mike Atherton
Michael Andrew Atherton OBE is a broadcaster, journalist and retired England international cricketer. A right-handed opening batsman for Lancashire and England,and occasional leg-break bowler, he achieved the captaincy of England at the age of 25 and led the side in a record 54 Test matches...
. Born five days apart, Hussain and Mike Atherton soon found their careers progressing in parallel as they captained, batted and bowled legspin for England age-group teams.
As well as Atherton, who was considered the "Golden Boy" of the North at the time, Hussain played with and against others such as Mark Ramprakash
Mark Ramprakash
Mark Ravin Ramprakash is an English cricketer, playing for Surrey and England. A right-handed batsman, he initially made his name playing for Middlesex, and was selected for England aged 21...
, Graham Thorpe
Graham Thorpe
Graham Paul Thorpe MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Surrey and England. A left-handed middle-order batsman and slip fielder, he appeared in exactly 100 Test matches.-Early life:...
and Trevor Ward
Trevor Ward
Trevor Robert Ward is an English cricketer. A right-handed batsman and is also an occasional off-spin bowler. Ward has played county cricket for Kent and Leicestershire....
. But at the age of 15, and captain of England Schools, Hussain suddenly lost his ability to bowl. In the off season Hussain "grew a foot in height in the winter" and the trajectory of his bowling was therefore altered. He recounts "I went from bowling out Graham Gooch in the indoor school with everyone watching, to hitting the roof of the net or bowling triple-bouncers to deadly silence."
Hussain's father initially refused to accept that his son couldn't bowl to the previous high standards and continued to push him into bowling, while Hussain, full of frustration at his sudden loss of ability felt he was letting his father down. For a while he dropped behind his contemporaries; boys like Atherton, Ramprakash and Martin Bicknell
Martin Bicknell
Martin Paul Bicknell is a former English cricketer. He played only four Test matches, but the last two, against South Africa in 2003, came ten years after the first two in the 1993 Ashes series. England had played 114 matches between his appearances, a record...
were beginning to receive professional county contracts while Hussain was missing out on representative games and England tours. So Hussain took the decision to make himself a batsman. Luckily he was still captain of Essex under-16s and so moved himself up the order to get more runs and to bowl less. His determination paid off and his batting progressed, and in that year he became the first boy at Forest to score 1000 runs in a season since 1901.
Hussain himself admits that batting never came as naturally to him as leg-spin bowling. Vestiges of this manufacturing process remain in his technique: he bats with little left elbow and plenty of bottom hand, and backs up with the bat in his right hand.
Test cricket
Hussain's Test cricket debut in 1990 was a momentous game for England. Not only was it the first game for two future England captains, Hussain and his long standing team-mate Alec StewartAlec Stewart
Alec James Stewart OBE is a retired English cricketer, a right-handed batsman-wicketkeeper and former captain of the England cricket team...
, but England won by nine wickets, their first victory against West Indies in sixteen years and 30 Tests. When it ended, just before lunch on the final day, the game's established order had been so dramatically overturned that even those within the England party were scarcely able to absorb the fact.
However, England went on to lose the series 2-1 and despite the heady first test, Hussain found himself the victim of the selection policy, that of high churn and inconsistency, and was subsequently not picked for the next three years. Hussain was also regarded as a bit of a hot-head, and it was argued that his fiery temper (which gained him so much in his latter career) in the early days briefly jeopardised his prospects of an international career. However at Essex Hussain continued to score runs and impress his County colleague and England Captain Graham Gooch
Graham Gooch
Graham Alan Gooch OBE DL is a former cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, he became the most prolific run scorer of all time with 67,057 runs...
enough to have a Test reprieve. So at the 3rd Ashes Test of 1993, Hussain joined an England team that had four debutants, the most notable being Graham Thorpe
Graham Thorpe
Graham Paul Thorpe MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Surrey and England. A left-handed middle-order batsman and slip fielder, he appeared in exactly 100 Test matches.-Early life:...
, one of Hussain's closest allies and team-mates, who scored a century on debut. There were also four Essex players in the team. Hussain scored 71 and 47 not out, which was enough to see him selected for the rest of the series. It was however not enough to secure his place for the subsequent winter tour, nor for that matter the next three years of Test matches as the selectors once again decided to look elsewhere.
Hussain managed to cement his place in the Test side when he was picked again for the Test series against India in the summer of 1996. The number 3 batting position had been troublesome for England for some time. England had tried all manner of combinations at No. 3, from the left-field Jason Gallian
Jason Gallian
Jason Edward Riche Gallian is a former English Test cricketer. A right-handed opening batsman, he originally hails from Australia and captained their Under-19 side for two Under-19 Tests in 1989 and 1990. He played three Test matches for England, but disappointed, with a highest score of 28 in six...
to the veteran Robin Smith
Robin Smith (cricketer)
Robin Arnold Smith is a former cricketer for Hampshire and England.Smith was nicknamed Judge or Judgie for his resemblance to a judge when he grew his hair long...
, via the temperamentally suspect pairing of Graeme Hick
Graeme Hick
Graeme Ashley Hick MBE is a Zimbabwean-born cricketer who played 65 Test matches and 120 One Day Internationals for England. He played county cricket for Worcestershire for his entire English domestic career, a period of well over twenty years, and in 2008 he surpassed Graham Gooch's record for...
and Mark Ramprakash
Mark Ramprakash
Mark Ravin Ramprakash is an English cricketer, playing for Surrey and England. A right-handed batsman, he initially made his name playing for Middlesex, and was selected for England aged 21...
. "A lot is made of your batting position," Hussain recalled to Cricinfo, "but I always felt, and I did back then when David Lloyd
David Lloyd (cricketer)
David Lloyd is a former English cricketer who played county cricket for Lancashire and Test and One Day International cricket for England. He also played semi-professional football for Accrington Stanley...
rang me up and asked me to bat No. 3, that if you're good enough to be playing Test cricket, you should be good enough to move from No.5 to No.3".
Hussain was given the berth and didn't disappoint by scoring 128 in the first innings. Hussain was awarded Man of The Match and with another century in the last Test that summer was awarded Man of the Series.
Test captain
Hussain was the captainCaptain (cricket)
The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player...
of the England team for 45 Test match
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
es from 1999 to 2003; only Michael Atherton and Michael Vaughan
Michael Vaughan
Michael Paul Vaughan OBE is a retired cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England. A classically elegant right-handed batsman and occasional off-spinner, Vaughan was ranked one of the best batsmen in the world following the 2002/3 Ashes, in which he scored 633 runs, including three centuries...
have captained England in more matches. He also has the fourth most Test victories as England captain, with 17, behind only Vaughan (26), Peter May (20) and Mike Brearley
Mike Brearley
John Michael Brearley OBE is a former cricketer who captained the England cricket team in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 17 and losing only 4. He was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 2007–08.-Early life:...
(18). His percentage of Tests won was higher than any of the previous five captains, i.e. since Bob Willis
Bob Willis
Robert George Dylan Willis MBE , known as Bob Willis, is a former English cricketer who played for Surrey, Warwickshire, Northern Transvaal and England...
.
Taking over from Alec Stewart in July 1999, Hussain became Test captain when English cricket was at a low point, and his first series in charge saw England lose to New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
at home, after which he was booed by the England fans as he and his team stood on the pavilion balcony. However, in 2000 he led England to a 3-1 victory over the West Indies at home, and in that winter, the England team beat both Pakistan and Sri Lanka away. Under the new regime, England won four Test series in a row for the first time since Brearley, and rose to third place in the ICC Test Championship table when it was launched, after being ninth and last in the prototype Wisden World Championship in September 1999.
Hussain's style of captaincy was a reflection of his personality, never static, always full of energy and ideas. He was known to make four field-changes in one over in a Test match, searching for the solution, trying to make up for the lack of variety among his attack of mostly right-arm seamers with his own imaginative placements. His batting while captain veered from one extreme to another, from the heights of England's tour to South Africa to a worse run than even Brearley knew.
Yet so widespread was the recognition of Hussain's merit as captain that his place was never questioned, unlike Brearley's. Nor were there many calls for his head despite consecutive Ashes drubbings in 2001 and 2002-03. Hussain established himself as the best and - not coincidentally - the most articulate England captain since Mike Brearley.
Hussain was captain of both the Test and One Day International England teams until after the 2003 Cricket World Cup
2003 Cricket World Cup
-Group stage tables and results:The top three teams from each pool qualify for the next stage, carrying forward the points already scored against fellow qualifiers, plus a quarter of the points scored against the teams that failed to qualify.-Pool A:...
, when England failed to make the second round after boycotting the match against Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean cricket team
The Zimbabwean cricket team is a national cricket team representing Zimbabwe. It is administrated by Zimbabwe Cricket...
in Harare
Harare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
, citing security concerns. But as he stated in his autobiography Playing With Fire, the whole Zimbabwe question and the responsibility left to the captain on making a decision whether to play against a country whose cricket team was politically run, on behalf of the young English and the ECB, was a question that "kept him awake at night".
Immediately after the 2003 Cricket World Cup, after coming under heavy criticism, he stepped down as one-day captain, passing on the reins to Michael Vaughan
Michael Vaughan
Michael Paul Vaughan OBE is a retired cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England. A classically elegant right-handed batsman and occasional off-spinner, Vaughan was ranked one of the best batsmen in the world following the 2002/3 Ashes, in which he scored 633 runs, including three centuries...
. Later in 2003, Hussain announced his retirement as Test captain after England had been on the receiving end of Graeme Smith
Graeme Smith
Graeme Craig Smith is a South African cricketer and captain of the South African cricket team Test Match side, having succeeded Shaun Pollock after the 2003 Cricket World Cup...
's 277 but had narrowly clung on for a draw in the first Test against South Africa
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
, again being replaced by Vaughan. Vaughan's captaincy career would subsequently echo Hussain's: Vaughan resigned the one-day captaincy after a poor showing at the 2007 Cricket World Cup
2007 Cricket World Cup
The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007, using the sport's One Day International format...
and subsequently resigned the Test captaincy after a series loss, which was instigated by Graeme Smith's batting.
Hussain continued as a batsman in the Test team until May 2004; in a symbolic changing of the guard, Hussain's final Test, against New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
at Lord's, was Andrew Strauss
Andrew Strauss
Andrew John Strauss, OBE is an English cricketer who plays county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club and is the captain of England's Test cricket team. A fluent left-handed opening batsman, Strauss favours scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots...
' debut Test. Strauss scored 112 and 83, and Hussain scored 34 and 103 not out; although Hussain ran Strauss out in the second innings, he had the honour of hitting the winning runs. Satisfied with his replacement, Hussain announced his immediate retirement from international and first-class cricket on 27 May 2004.
One Day Internationals
Hussain played 88 One Day internationals for England with an average of 30.2, making his debut against Pakistan in October 1989 where he scored 2. Similarly to his Test career and the selection policy that blighted the early 1990s in English International Cricket, his ODI career was one of false starts insomuch as after his second ODI he had to wait a further four years for a re-selection. Hussain only became a regular in the ODI team by the Zimbabwe series of 1996 and 1997 where by that point he was the England Test captain. From then he went on to score 16 fifties and a single century which was against India at Lords in 2002. Hussain captained his country in 56 ODIs and played in 9 World Cup games; he resigned as captain immediately after the 2003 World Cup.Hussain's highest score of 115 occurred in perhaps the most memorable of his One Day Internationals. Described by BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
correspondent Jonathan Agnew
Jonathan Agnew
Jonathan Philip Agnew is an English cricket broadcaster and former professional cricketer. He was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire and educated at Uppingham School. He is nicknamed "Aggers", and, less commonly, "Spiro"....
as "the most exciting one-day international" he had ever seen, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
overhauled England's 326 at Lords
Lords
- Places :*Lord's Cricket Ground, English Cricket Ground and home of Marylebone County Cricket Club.- Politics :*House of Lords, upper house of the British parliament*Lords Spiritual, clergymen of the House of Lords...
, their highest score for ten years, to win with 3 balls to spare in the summer of 2002.
For some time before the game, Hussain's position in the ODI team and his insistence of batting at number three had been repeatedly questioned by the press, most notably Sky Sports commentators, and future colleagues, Ian Botham
Ian Botham
Sir Ian Terence Botham OBE is a former England Test cricketer and Test team captain, and current cricket commentator. He was a genuine all-rounder with 14 centuries and 383 wickets in Test cricket, and remains well-known by his nickname "Beefy"...
and Bob Willis
Bob Willis
Robert George Dylan Willis MBE , known as Bob Willis, is a former English cricketer who played for Surrey, Warwickshire, Northern Transvaal and England...
.
Hussain responded to those critics with a typically belligerent innings, and along with the faster scoring Marcus Trescothick
Marcus Trescothick
Marcus Edward Trescothick MBE is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club, and represented England in 76 Test matches and 123 One Day Internationals. A left-handed opening batsman, he made his first-class debut for Somerset in 1993 and quickly established...
added 185 off just 167 balls. But after reaching three figures Hussain gestured wildly to the press box, in defiance of the critics who had questioned his decision to bat at number three, by pointing to the number 3 on his back and raising three fingers to the media box and the ex-professionals who frequented it.
Despite the century and the gesture, it was felt by some members of the media that the slow innings had proved the truth of their criticisms, and some even stated that "Captain Angry" had made a rod for his own back.
Post-playing career
Since his retirement, he has taken up a career as a television commentator for Sky SportsSky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
and has worked at New Hall School
New Hall School
New Hall is one of the oldest Catholic schools in England. It is located in the former Tudor Palace of Beaulieu in Essex.Today New Hall is a leading Catholic independent boarding & day school for boys and girls aged 3–18. Founded in 1642, New Hall School, Chelmsford, is the oldest Catholic school...
http://www.newhallschool.co.uk in Chelmsford as their cricket professional.
He also played himself in a Bollywood movie, Patiala House
Patiala House
Patiala House is a 2011 Hindi family drama / sports film directed by Nikhil Advani and starring Akshay Kumar and Anushka Sharma. British Asian Actor Armaan Kirmani also makes his debut in this film as Akshay's brother...
.
Performance against each opponent
| Opponent | Matches | Innings | Runs | High Score | 100 | 50 | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 23 | 45 | 4 | 1581 | 207 | 2 | 11 | 38.56 |
| Bangladesh | 2 | 4 | 0 | 188 | 95 | 0 | 2 | 47.00 |
| India | 10 | 16 | 1 | 824 | 155 | 4 | 2 | 54.93 |
| New Zealand | 10 | 17 | 2 | 698 | 106 | 2 | 4 | 46.53 |
| Pakistan | 6 | 10 | 2 | 267 | 64 | 0 | 3 | 33.37 |
| South Africa | 14 | 26 | 3 | 1010 | 146* | 3 | 5 | 36.04 |
| Sri Lanka | 8 | 14 | 0 | 345 | 109 | 1 | 2 | 24.64 |
| West Indies | 17 | 30 | 4 | 653 | 106 | 1 | 4 | 25.11 |
| TOTAL | 96 | 171 | 16 | 5764 | 207 | 14 | 33 | 37.18 |