Hussain has just the right touch on tiller (2 July 1999)

2 July 1999

Hussain has just the right touch on tiller

Simon Hughes

New Britain was set before the nation's eyes yesterday. On BBC1 it was the opening of the Scottish parliament, confusing that swathe of the population who switched on the beeb at 10.50 am and expected Richie Benaud to say: "Thanks Tony, morning everyone."

Half a million better-informed souls were glimpsing the future of English cricket. About 10,000 reclined in Edgbaston's half-empty stands. The other 490,000 of them witnessed it on Sky TV. Cricket was made for 30-second adverts, and soon a bowler will be dissuaded from beginning a new over until the ads have ended.

What they saw was England's first captain of Asian extraction leading out four others from mixed race marriages, men of Australian and New Zealand origin, a Devonian and three Londoners. They were held up principally by a batsman who is half Maori. It was not all a commercial for British Airways, despite their logo on the sightscreen.

The future was mainly bright. Nasser Hussain lost the toss, which he wanted to do on a pitch suspected to contain hidden gremlins, was asked to field, saw the back of one New Zealand batsmen third ball and four by lunch.

The bowlers found life and movement and remembered the game plan. England's customary post-prandial amnesia set in for a while during the afternoon as New Zealand's seventh wicket pair added 85. Philip Tufnell, who Hussain had requested in the team against the advice of many pundits, restored order.

Excellent catches were held, two by Hussain himself. To cap it all, England dismissed their opponents for a moderate score without being obliged to negotiate any awkward overs at the end of the day.

As captain, Hussain made a promising start. The players emerged to a man in their England caps, at his instigation. He set attacking fields and, as if to reflect the 19 different camera angles Sky would present, fielded in seven different positions inside the first eight overs. No one could accuse him (or Sky) of myopia. By just past midday, he had already tried four bowlers.

His resistance to using a fifth just before lunch was a further sign that he will be a refreshingly non-conformist captain. Mark Butcher had just sent down four exploratory overs from the city end and the fourth wicket pair of Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan were just starting to settle in.

There were seven minutes to the interval and the overriding temptation would have been to give Tufnell the spinner a token over. Spinners don't like it, spectators don't like it, it's rarely productive but it always happens. It's the cliche of cliches.

Instead, Hussain tossed the ball again to Butcher. His first and third balls were cut to the boundary, but his fourth lured Astle into a fatal edge to give Chris Read, the debutant wicketkeeper, his first Test match victim. On yesterday's evidence, there will be many more. It was good common sense captaincy and it was timely. Two more wickets fell soon after lunch.

The bowlers got soft-ball-itis during the middle afternoon, offering up a few self-service deliveries, and a couple of catches went down. It would have troubled a lesser man. But instead of adopting the prickly hands-on-hips pose, Hussain stroked his chin sagely and had a quiet word or two.

The captain's body language is vital. Obvious irritation stresses bowlers, gives batsmen a draught of satisfaction. Nonchalance infuses them with self-doubt. At the right moment, Hussain whistled up Tufnell and soon the job was done. How well, we will obviously find out today. In between the commercials.

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph