Hussain has the stamp of authority (1 July 1999)

1 July 1999

Hussain has the stamp of authority

Michael Henderson

Nasser Hussain gave the most accomplished press conference yesterday that an England captain has conducted for years. He was lucid, he was thoughtful, he looked back for experience as well as forward for hope, and everything he said bore the stamp of a man who knew a big task lay ahead and who was determined to go about it his way.

In no more than 15 minutes Hussain banished the matter-of-fact approach of Alec Stewart, whom he succeeded last week. He also dispelled the memories of Michael Atherton stonewalling questions as though the inquisitors resembled Allan Donald, coming off his long run. He was open, frank, and above all, eager. All he has to do now is carry that clear-eyed individualism on to the field.

It will be less easy against New Zealand than some people imagine, because there are some good players in the team who England meet today at Edgbaston, in the first of the summer's four Tests. Theirs is not an immensely strong team, any more than is England's, but there is enough batting and bowling to make this series an awkward proposition for the new captain. If it is to be a low-key summer it may still produce some highly watchable cricket from two sides trying to find their international feet.

Hussain, who admitted that the final selection this morning would be his, defined his first England team as "a combination of people who have played well for us over the past year or so, people who have come back with a point to prove, and two new lads who are excited about winning their first cap". At a drinks gathering at their Sutton Coldfield hotel on Tuesday night, Hussain tried to ensure that those new caps, Chris Read and Aftab Habib, got to know their more experienced team-mates.

He also went out of his way to stress the support Stewart had given him since he took over. "Alec is the most professional person I have worked with," he said. "He is the absolute model pro, and all he wants to do now is get out there and make runs, and to carry on playing for as long as possible."

Stewart, relieved of the wicketkeeping gloves as well as the captaincy, will open the batting in this match. The more pressing question is: who opens the bowling with Alan Mullally? The likelihood is that Alex Tudor will share the new ball, and that Phil Tufnell's left-arm spin will find favour after Hussain has inspected the pitch, and discussed the team's composition with his co-selectors, David Graveney and Graham Gooch.

That leaves one of Dean Headley, Andrew Caddick and Chris Silverwood, and Hussain was not giving away too much when he said: "There is no way I could turn up here without Headley." The Kent seamer bowled superbly in Melbourne and Sydney last winter, helping to win one Test and doing his very best to win another. If Test performances count for anything, and they should, Headley will play.

It seems more likely, however, that Caddick will be preferred against his fellow Kiwis. He has begun the season in wicket-taking form and the feeling appears to be that he is worth another chance, to show that the door is not closed to those who are regarded as difficult. Speaking in much the same vein, Graveney, who is acting as team manager as well as being the chairman of selectors, emphasised that Ed Giddins of Warwickshire remained in their thoughts.

At the outset the most interesting feature of this match is that it could bring together, possibly for the first time in Test history, two players from the same club on either side of the international divide. Read, 20, who becomes the youngest wicketkeeper to play for England, played for the same Devon club, Paignton, as Roger Twose, the New Zealand opening batsman.

"I think it must be unique," said Gordon Ripley, the Paignton fixture secretary. He recalled watching the six-year-old Read knocking up with his father, Geoff, "and although it was far too early to say he would be an England player, he looked a true cricketer in miniature. The way he played, so straight, and with balance, you couldn't believe you were watching one so young."

When Read was 14 he played in a charity match at Paignton among a group of professionals and dived in front of slip to hold a catch off Malcolm Marshall. "Malcolm said, 'That boy will play for England' ". Now, six years on, after less than two years on the professional circuit, the man who has ended up at Nottinghamshire by way of Gloucestershire, is about to validate that judgment.

Twose also had to leave Devon, to join Warwickshire, and he returns to his former home ground as a New Zealander by adoption, jostling for the opener's place with Matthew Bell. "Roger played in our side when we won the Devon League championship in 1985," Ripley recalled. "You can say that we're very proud of both players."

England (probable): M A Butcher, A J Stewart, *N Hussain, G P Thorpe, M R Ramprakash, A Habib, -C M W Read, A J Tudor, D W Headley/A R Caddick/C E W Silverwood, P C R Tufnell, A D Mullally.

New Zealand (probable): M J Horne, R G Twose/M D Bell, *S P Fleming, C D McMillan, N J Astle, C L Cairns, -A C Parore, D J Nash, S B Doull, G I Allott, D L Vettori.

Umpires: S A Bucknor (West Indies) & P Willey (England).

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph