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Nasser Hussain

hang on

State Vice-Captain
half indian. mum's english.

just showed his 200 at trentbridge in 97. still remember that match. and the series too. taylor scored a 100 in that match and saved his career.
the match at lords was washed out. and australia were 6 or 7 down for 160 odd in their first innings in the third test (made 220 or so eventually).....and then.......
 

Spark

Global Moderator
Unfortunately his claim to fame down here is sending Matthew Hayden in on his home pitch in his prime. Can't say I know too much about him other than he is known for digging England out of a deep deep hole and basically made the rebuilding of the last decade - 2004/5 in particular - possible.
 

keeper

U19 Vice-Captain
half indian. mum's english.

just showed his 200 at trentbridge in 97. still remember that match. and the series too. taylor scored a 100 in that match and saved his career.
the match at lords was washed out. and australia were 6 or 7 down for 160 odd in their first innings in the third test (made 220 or so eventually).....and then.......
Good series for a while. After surviving Lords by the skin of their teeth I remember thinking we might have the momentum and luck with us. Steve Waugh held us and then, with McGrath and Warne, broke us at Old Trafford. Series was a formality after that.

One of the finest pairs of hundreds I've seen in a Test. Waugh had to battle some good bowling and good bowling conditions.
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
I love Nass. Passionate and thoughtful cricketer who one could see it patently mattered to.

He's turned into a bloody good commentator as well. I still think he'll do something in coaching at some stage tho.
 

benchmark00

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Better commentator than he was a batsman.

Enjoyed his ”You might remember me - I was captain of England when they were crap" line a few years back at some awards ceremony.
 

keeper

U19 Vice-Captain
Good autobiog for anyone who likes such things.

Possibly too introspective and intense for his own good. Pivotal relationship with his Dad. Excellent skipper with very dodgy eyesight - but by the time they discovered this they thought he'd be better carrying on with what he was used to.
 

salman85

International Debutant
I wouldn't call him England's best captain,but he was a very good one.

Thoroughly likable cricketer.
 

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Great shame his fingers were so brittle - liked his attitude - especially with the gutter press
 

zaremba

Cricketer Of The Year
half indian. mum's english.

just showed his 200 at trentbridge in 97. still remember that match. and the series too. taylor scored a 100 in that match and saved his career.
the match at lords was washed out. and australia were 6 or 7 down for 160 odd in their first innings in the third test (made 220 or so eventually).....and then.......
Edgbaston, FTR (pedant alert!). What a great innings that was. Played well against India in 96 IIRC as well - that was the series when he first cemented his place in the team, having made his debut in Jamaica in 1990/91.

Sadly for most of the time he tried to grit it out rather than play shots, and because he came to bat at 4, the result was that there was little attacking impetus in the England middle order. His average was perhaps marginally worsened by a shocking series of unlucky dismissals including being out caught without hitting the ball in one innings of a Test, and out LBW having smacked the cover off it in the other. And of course there was the Hooper daisy-cutter which was about as nasty a delivery as has ever been bowled by a West Indian, which is saying something.

Good captain in difficult times. Useful commentator, if occasionally prone to symptoms of the "pay undue respect to Sir Ian" contagion that's endemic in the Sky box.
 

wpdavid

Hall of Fame Member
I like him a lot. I think his batting's slightly under-rated: for a guy with a lowish test average, he played numerous match-winning innings, often in circumstances that were far from easy. There's a piece somewhere in the CW archives about all that from soon after he retired in May or June 2004.

As a captain, I think he's slightly over-rated, certainly in terms of his actual results. The idea that England were completely hopeless when he took over the reins isn't completely supported by the fact that they'd beaten SA the previous summer, and even less by his team's defeat at home to NZ in his first series. The subsequent loss in SA was fair enough, but his side then lost the first test at home to WI by an innings, which no self-respecting team did even then. People forget that the miracle of Lord's 2000 was overseen by Stewart, as Hussain was injured for that test, and thereafter WI did what they did everywhere for the rest of that series. All that being said, his wins in Pakistan & Sri Lanka the following winter were outstanding performances, and numerous injuries in 2001 meant the side never got going at home to an Australian side who were pretty much at the peak of their powers. Thereafter, his captaincy seemed dominated by fear, culminating in the daft decision to insert Aus in the first Ashes test in 2003/03. By then, his approach to man-management was looking counter productive, especially with some of the bowlers.

So not our finest ever captain imo, although obviously there were notable achievements, especially in the subcontinent.
 

slowfinger

International Debutant
I like him a lot. I think his batting's slightly under-rated: for a guy with a lowish test average, he played numerous match-winning innings, often in circumstances that were far from easy. There's a piece somewhere in the CW archives about all that from soon after he retired in May or June 2004.

As a captain, I think he's slightly over-rated, certainly in terms of his actual results. The idea that England were completely hopeless when he took over the reins isn't completely supported by the fact that they'd beaten SA the previous summer, and even less by his team's defeat at home to NZ in his first series. The subsequent loss in SA was fair enough, but his side then lost the first test at home to WI by an innings, which no self-respecting team did even then. People forget that the miracle of Lord's 2000 was overseen by Stewart, as Hussain was injured for that test, and thereafter WI did what they did everywhere for the rest of that series. All that being said, his wins in Pakistan & Sri Lanka the following winter were outstanding performances, and numerous injuries in 2001 meant the side never got going at home to an Australian side who were pretty much at the peak of their powers. Thereafter, his captaincy seemed dominated by fear, culminating in the daft decision to insert Aus in the first Ashes test in 2003/03. By then, his approach to man-management was looking counter productive, especially with some of the bowlers.

So not our finest ever captain imo, although obviously there were notable achievements, especially in the subcontinent.
One musn't forget that he took over from a very successful captain, forgot his name dammit, but the pressure on his shoes was definitely on ever since he took over, big shoes to fill, don't forget his upbringing.
 

Neil Pickup

Cricket Web Moderator
One musn't forget that he took over from a very successful captain, forgot his name dammit, but the pressure on his shoes was definitely on ever since he took over, big shoes to fill, don't forget his upbringing.
This was England in 2000 at the bottom of the Test rankings, was it not? I wouldn't use "very successful"...
 

Furball

Evil Scotsman
Good captain in difficult times. Useful commentator, if occasionally prone to symptoms of the "pay undue respect to Sir Ian" contagion that's endemic in the Sky box.
Not sure if that's something I'd accuse Nasser of. He's certainly given Botham a few sarcastic digs in the past.
 

Top_Cat

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Stop spamming the forum!

:cool:

Amazing how the perception of him has turned. He's not got many fans at the Adelaide Uni CC......
 

tooextracool

International Coach
Absolutely great guy, liked him as captain and even more so a commentator. He was pretty rough around the edges when he first got to the commentary booth but you can see how hes grown into the role over the years. Also, unlike Atherton who comes across as a bit of a tit in real life, he actually seems like a genuinely likable person.

As far as his playing career is concerned, I thought he was an underrated batsman who perhaps would have been better had he not taken up the captaincy. His performance tanked a fair bit after he took up the role, and his technique was counterproductive with regards to his 'poppadum' fingers. Great captain though, excellent man-manager and crucial for England at the time was his ability to deal with the press. Caddick, for example, who was known for being a little eccentric only really blossomed under Hussain's captaincy. Im not sure if he is a candidate for greatest England captain ever (that probably goes to Jardine), but he was definitely an excellent one and I would argue a better one than Vaughan.
 

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