As Nasser Hussain walks away from Test cricket, Andrew Miller looks back on Hussain’s highs and lows during his 14 years with England
27-May-2004
Out on a high: Hussain celebrates his final hundred for England against New Zealand at Lord’s last week© Getty Images
Tests No. 1 to 3 – England in West Indies 1989-90
Nasser Hussain was just 21 when he was hand-picked by his county colleague Graham Gooch for the toughest tour of all. At the time of his selection, with England in turmoil after a disastrous Ashes summer and severely weakened by the mass defection of several leading players to a rebel tour of South Africa, Wisden Cricket Monthly mused that Mike Atherton, whom Hussain edged out of the party, might be the lucky one. So it proved. A broken wrist, sustained while playing tennis, forced Hussain to miss much of the 1990 season – a year in which Atherton excelled. It would be three years before England came calling again.Tests No. 4 to 7 – Australia in England 1993
Desperate times called for desperate measures. Australia were already 2-0 up when Hussain was recalled from the wilderness for the third Test at Trent Bridge. He made a promising return, scoring 71 in the first innings and 47 not out in the second as Graham Thorpe – one of four new caps – completed a century on debut, but England couldn’t quite pull off a deserved victory. His performances slipped away badly after that, however, and he finished the series with a first-ball duck at The Oval. He did tour the Caribbean that winter, but was overlooked for the whole series, whereupon he slipped back into county cricket for another three years.Test No. 8 – Edgbaston 1996
Hussain’s third coming as an England player, and this time there would be no looking back. At 215 for 8 in reply to India’s 213, the match could hardly have been more evenly poised, but Hussain coaxed 98 runs from the last two wickets to finish with a superb 128, which was 94 more than any other batsman managed. After an eyecatching stint as England A captain in Pakistan, Hussain had suddenly emerged as a senior player, and two Tests later, he confirmed his new standing with 107 at Trent Bridge. Not for the last time, however, that innings ended with him nursing a broken finger.Test No. 18 – Edgbaston 1997
England’s greatest team performance of the 1990s, and Hussain was right in the thick of things. His magnificent 207 against Australia – his first double-century in all cricket – cemented an impregnable advantage after Darren Gough, Andrew Caddick and Devon Malcolm had sent the Aussies reeling to 54 for 8 in a euphoric opening session. The open face that had been such a hindrance in his early days had been shelved, along with his impetuous temperament, as Glenn McGrath and Michael Kasprowicz were first beaten back, then cut and pulled to distraction. England had been in some trouble at 50 for 3, but that situation was transformed by a stand of 288 with Thorpe, whose 138 was a mini-masterpiece in its own right. Australia, almost inevitably, bounced back to steamroll the series, but the seeds of England’s revival had been sown.Test No. 34 – Headingley 1998
Hussain’s last three centuries had all come in losing causes, including a particularly traumatic defeat in Antigua, where his run-out for 106 had precipitated a collapse of seven wickets for 26 runs, and the end of Atherton’s reign as England captain. Against South Africa at Headingley, on the other hand, Hussain missed the hundred, but secured the win. His gutsy 94, on a seaming track and into the teeth of a furious assault from Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock (who took five wickets apiece) gave England’s bowlers just enough to play with, as they came from behind to clinch the final Test by 23 runs, and the series 2-1. It was England’s first victory in a five-Test series for more than a decade.Test No. 40 – Edgbaston 1999
Hussain’s first Test as England captain was a surreal affair. England slumped to 45 for 7 in reply to New Zealand’s 226; New Zealand in turn slumped to 52 for 8 … and England romped to victory by seven wickets, thanks to an unbeaten 99 from the nightwatchman, Alex Tudor. But the rest of the summer didn’t go to plan. Hussain broke a finger during the second-Test defeat at Lord’s, missed the draw at Old Trafford, and returned in time to be booed off the balcony at The Oval, as England slumped to the bottom of the Wisden World Championship table.Test No. 45 – Durban 1999-2000
The most adhesive innings of Hussain’s Test career. In 635 minutes and 463 balls of unrepentant stodge at Durban, he compiled an unbeaten 146, out of England’s total of 366 for 9. It almost paid dividends as well, as Andrew Caddick whistled through the South Africans with 7 for 46. But second time around, they had learned their lesson, and Gary Kirsten trumped Hussain with a 14-and-a-half-hour 275 to save the game. But following on from his unbeaten 70 at Port Elizabeth, Hussain would bat for more than 1000 minutes before he was next dismissed.Test No. 54 – The Oval 2000
The defining image of England’s fifth-Test triumph over West Indies was not of Mike Atherton’s ghost-laying hundred, nor the guards of honour given to Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose. Nor even the showers of champagne on the balcony, as England reclaimed the Wisden Trophy for the first time in 31 years. It was the image of Hussain at midwicket, slumping to his knees at the moment of victory, overwhelmed by the enormity of what he had just achieved. Form-wise, it had been a desperate season for Hussain – he had managed a top-score of 22 in ten innings, a run that had just been capped by his first pair in Test cricket. But his onfield influence had been immense, and the response of his players equally so.
A defining moment: Hussain with the Wisden Trophy at The Oval in 2000© Getty Images
Test No. 57 – Karachi 2000-01
The twilight robbery. Pakistan had never lost a game at their headquarters at Karachi, and England had not won a match in Pakistan for 39 years. But all that changed in the dying seconds of a masterful heist, as England’s hang-in-there tactics paid the richest of dividends. Bat had dominated ball all series, but when Pakistan collapsed on the final afternoon of the tour, England were suddenly left needing 176 for victory in 44 overs. Pakistan slowed the game to a crawl as darkness shrouded the stadium, but fittingly, it was Hussain and Thorpe, the mastermind and master batsman, who wrapped up the match at 5.52pm – 45 minutes after the scheduled close.Test No. 59 – Kandy 2000-01
In a match that Wisden described as a “bar-room brawl”, Hussain recorded his first century for 22 innings, as England bounced back from an innings defeat at Galle to draw level in the series. It was a filthy-tempered game that veered towards anarchy thanks to some inept umpiring, and Hussain was a major beneficiary, surviving two clear-cut bat-pad decisions in quick succession. Nevertheless, he had to call on every ounce of his mental reserves to make his lives count, while his captaincy was, yet again, inspirational. England would go on to win the deciding Test in Colombo as well, to cap the most glorious winter of his career.Tests No. 66 and 67 – Ahmedabad and Bangalore 2001-02
After another Ashes thumping and a heavy loss in the first Test at Chandigarh, Hussain’s captaincy was perceived by some to have lost the Midas touch. But he confounded his critics in the final two Tests of the rubber, and though England could not force victory, he emerged from the series with more plaudits than his opposite number, Sourav Ganguly. With neither Andrew Caddick nor Darren Gough at his disposal, Hussain opted for an unrepentantly negative strategy, especially to Sachin Tendulkar, who in his frustration was stumped for the first time in his career, as India were bowled out for 238 in the final match. Rain, however, had the last word.Test No. 68 – Christchurch 2001-02
Nathan Astle’s eye-popping 222 from 153 balls will forever be the talking point of this Test, but England’s victory could not have been achieved without Hussain’s bad-wicket masterclass on the first morning. England had slumped to 0 for 2 after being put in on a mischievous drop-in pitch, but recovered to 228 thanks to Hussain’s 106 (the next-best score was 31). His efforts were put into context when Matthew Hoggard swung New Zealand out for 147 in reply, but thereafter the conditions transformed, and Thorpe and Andrew Flintoff combined to set a massive 550 for victory. It proved to be just enough.Test No. 74 – Lord’s 2002
The most complete victory of Hussain’s captaincy, and a personal triumph with the bat as well. His 155 formed the backbone of England’s first-innings 487, while in the field he shepherded his young bowlers, who stuck to a rigorous game plan to dismiss the Indians for 221. The rest of the summer didn’t quite go to plan, as England failed to win at Trent Bridge before being routed at Headingley, but at this stage, with three Test wins in a row, everything was rosy.Test No. 78 – Brisbane 2002-03
The fateful gamble, and the beginning of the end of Hussain’s captaincy. Australia were at their absolute zenith during the last Ashes, and it is improbable that England could have competed with them under any circumstances. But by deciding to bowl first after winning the first toss of the series, Hussain managed to wave a white flag and a red rag all in one go. Australia rampaged to 364 for 2 at the close of a traumatic day, which was compounded by Simon Jones’s grievous knee injury. It was the worst possible start to an emotionally draining four-month campaign.
Dancing in the dark: Hussain celebrates England’s first Test win in Pakistan for 39 years, at Karachi in 2000© Getty Images
Test No. 85 – Edgbaston 2003
If you thought 364 for 2 was bad enough, try 398 for 1 for size. For that was what South Africa posted on the first day of Hussain’s last Test in charge. He had already resigned the one-day captaincy, after a fraught World Cup that had been wrecked by the Zimbabwe crisis, but to be outmanoeuvred by his 21-year-old opposite number, Graeme Smith, was the ultimate indignity. Smith went on to make 277 and 85 in the match, a grotesque statement of intent that convinced Hussain that his time was up. He abdicated in favour of Michael Vaughan immediately after the game, and lesser souls might have quit altogether. Two matches later, however, his 116 at Trent Bridge helped to square the series.Test No. 93 – Trinidad 2003-04
Hussain had been on the losing side in three consecutive Caribbean series. At the fourth attempt, however, he was instrumental in England’s triumph, and the manner of the victory will have given him all the more satisfaction. His gritty, grafting 120-run partnership with Mark Butcher ensured that Steve Harmison’s best efforts could not go to waste, and laid the platform for Graham Thorpe’s counterattacking 90, as England secured the Wisden Trophy with a seven-wicket victory.Test No. 96 – Lord’s 2004
England needed 282 for victory, but with Andrew Strauss batting as if to the manner born, victory was all but assured. Suddenly, Hussain produced a twist that had the conspiracy theorists in raptures – running Strauss out for 83, and England were in danger of buckling. But Hussain blocked out the scrape of sharpening knives, and dug for victory with his old mate Thorpe in close attendance. The grand finale was the stuff that dreams are made of – four to go to 98, four to bring up the hundred, and a single to seal the match.