36 Facts About Nasser Hussain

Nasser Hussain was born on 28 March 1968 and is a British cricket commentator and former cricketer who captained the England cricket team between 1999 and 2003, with his overall international career extending from 1990 to 2004.

Nasser Hussain played 96 Test matches and 88 One Day International games in total.

Nasser Hussain joined Essex in 1987 after developing from a spin bowler to batsman while at school and playing for the various Essex youth teams, as the leg-spin of his youth deserted him.

Nasser Hussain was selected for England initially on the back of 990 runs scored for Essex in the County Championship of 1989, though injury and poor form would limit his international caps during the early 1990s to three Tests of a 1990 West Indies tour, and four further matches in 1993.

Nasser Hussain joined Sky Sports as a commentator shortly thereafter.

Nasser Hussain's father, Raza Jawad 'Joe' Hussain, was an Indian Tamil Muslim and a keen cricketer and field hockey player.

Nasser Hussain was a descendant of Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah, the Nawab of Arcot State in the second half of the 18th century.

Nasser Hussain's father moved the family to England in 1975.

The family moved to Ilford, and Nasser Hussain later took charge of the indoor cricket school in Ilford where he used to bowl for hours on end at his elder brothers.

Nasser Hussain was a talented leg-spin bowler, and with his ability starting to show, at just eight years old, Hussain was selected to play for the Essex Under-11s, and at 12 years old and was the youngest to play for Essex Under-15s.

Nasser Hussain meanwhile continued his education at Forest School, Walthamstow.

At the age of 14 Nasser Hussain was selected to play for England Schools where he first came into contact with his friend and future England colleague Mike Atherton.

At the age of 15, and captain of England Schools, Nasser Hussain "grew a foot in height in the winter" and the trajectory of his bowling was altered.

Nasser Hussain switched to batting while he was still captain of Essex under-16s and moved himself up the order to get more runs and to bowl less.

Nasser Hussain's batting progressed, and in that year he became the first under-16 at Forest to score 1,000 runs in a season since 1901.

Nasser Hussain himself admitted that batting never came as naturally to him as leg-spin bowling.

Nasser Hussain graduated in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Nasser Hussain made his Test cricket debut in 1990 against the West Indies with the match ending just before lunch on the final day.

Nasser Hussain was not picked for the next three years.

Nasser Hussain was regarded as a bit of a "hot-head", and his fiery temper briefly jeopardised his prospects of an international career.

At Essex Nasser Hussain continued to score runs and impress his county colleague and England captain Graham Gooch enough to have a Test reprieve.

Nasser Hussain scored 71 and 47 not out, which was enough to see him selected for the rest of the series.

Nasser Hussain was picked again for a Test series against India in the summer of 1996.

Nasser Hussain was awarded Man of The Match and with another century in the last Test that summer was awarded Man of the Series.

Nasser Hussain was the captain of the England team for 45 Test matches from 1999 to 2003; as of 2021 the sixth most for an England captain, with his 17 Test victories the seventh most as England captain.

Nasser Hussain became Test captain in July 1999, taking over from Alec Stewart for the series against New Zealand at home, after which he was booed by the England fans as he and his team stood on the pavilion balcony.

Under Nasser Hussain, England won four Test series in a row 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.

Nasser 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 their match against Zimbabwe in Harare, citing security concerns.

Later in 2003, Nasser Hussain announced his retirement as Test captain after England's Test series against South Africa, again being replaced by Vaughan.

Nasser Hussain continued as a batsman in the Test team until May 2004; in his final Test, against New Zealand at Lord's, he scored 34 and 103 not out, hitting the winning runs.

Nasser Hussain was a very good thinker about the game and was proactive.

Nasser Hussain has the record of the most consecutive Test tosses lost as captain, losing 10 in a row between November 2000 and December 2001.

Nasser Hussain's innings included a partnership of 185 with Marcus Trescothick.

Nasser Hussain played himself in the 2011 Bollywood film Patiala House, in which Akshay Kumar played the leading role.

Nasser Hussain was criticised by Sunil Gavaskar because of his comments on the Indian team before Sourav Ganguly became captain.

Nasser Hussain is one of Sky Cricket's leading commentators alongside Michael Atherton, David Lloyd, Ian Ward and Rob Key.