Test Cricket
Hussain's Test cricket debut in 1990 was a momentous game for England. Not only was it the first game for two future England captains, Hussain and his long standing team-mate Alec Stewart, but England won by nine wickets, their first victory against West Indies in sixteen years and 30 Tests. When it ended, just before lunch on the final day, the game's established order had been so dramatically overturned that even those within the England party were scarcely able to absorb the fact.
However, England went on to lose the series 2-1 and despite the heady first test, Hussain found himself the victim of the selection policy, that of high churn and inconsistency, and was subsequently not picked for the next three years. Hussain was also regarded as a bit of a hot-head, and it was argued that his fiery temper (which gained him so much in his latter career) in the early days briefly jeopardised his prospects of an international career. However at Essex Hussain continued to score runs and impress his County colleague and England Captain Graham Gooch enough to have a Test reprieve. So at the 3rd Ashes Test of 1993, Hussain joined an England team that had four debutants, the most notable being Graham Thorpe, one of Hussain's closest allies and team-mates, who scored a century on debut. There were also four Essex players in the team. Hussain scored 71 and 47 not out, which was enough to see him selected for the rest of the series. It was however not enough to secure his place for the subsequent winter tour, nor for that matter the next three years of Test matches as the selectors once again decided to look elsewhere.
Hussain managed to cement his place in the Test side when he was picked again for the Test series against India in the summer of 1996. The number 3 batting position had been troublesome for England for some time. England had tried all manner of combinations at No. 3, from the left-field Jason Gallian to the veteran Robin Smith, via the temperamentally suspect pairing of Graeme Hick and Mark Ramprakash. "A lot is made of your batting position," Hussain recalled to Cricinfo, "but I always felt, and I did back then when David Lloyd rang me up and asked me to bat No. 3, that if you're good enough to be playing Test cricket, you should be good enough to move from No.5 to No.3".
Hussain was given the berth and didn't disappoint by scoring 128 in the first innings. Hussain was awarded Man of The Match and with another century in the last Test that summer was awarded Man of the Series.
Read more about this topic: Nasser Hussain
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