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Hussain the master as England win

Tuesday, May 25 2004

A typically defiant century by former captain Nasser Hussain and another splendid performance by Andrew Strauss went a long way to ensuring the perfect start for England in the series against New Zealand.

Daryl Tuffey started proceedings bowling a steady maiden to England captain Marcus Trescothick. The equation was simple - England wanted a further 274 runs, whereas New Zealand were looking to take ten wickets. Jacob Oram's first ball to Andy Strauss was an absolute beauty, pitching outside leg and missing off and beating the Middlesex man all ends up. A huge shout for leg before wicket was turned down shortly afterward as the Kiwis sought the early breakthrough.

Strauss nudged a single to open his account for the day, then he neatly turned a leg side ball from Tuffey to fine leg for a nerve-calming boundary. Trescothick scored his first run of the day with a solid push to mid off as the England openers, Strauss particularly, looked very solid early on, but by and large they were being helped by somewhat ineffective new ball bowling.

Tuffey changed all that though, with the first wicket of the day. Trescothick, his feet seemingly in clay, looked to punch a delivery of good length down the ground but played the ball in the air to the bowler's right. A turn, a tumble and an excellent acrobatic catch meant that England were 18-1. Mark Butcher started watchfully, waiting fully 10 balls before gratefully pushing a Tuffey delivery to midwicket for a single, then a lovely on drive brought him more joy as he sought to establish himself at the wicket.

A fabulous cover drive by Strauss for four from a Tuffey half volley brought the crowd to their feet, but three balls later he was perilously close to being leg before wicket to the same bowler. With 30 on the board, the spin of Daniel Vettori was introduced for the first time and it was evident from the start that this was the key to the entire match. Four times in his first over, he had Butcher reaching uncertainly for the pitch of the ball, each delivery subtly different. It was difficult to interpret this as the opening salvo of a man who had been unable to buy a wicket in 200 overs.

At the other end, Strauss received a horrible shooter, a delivery which barely reached ankle height, and he appeared mightily relieved to still be at the crease after jabbing down late on the ball, then Butcher had an almighty escape when Rudi Koertzen seemed to miss an obvious bat-pad decision, much to the disgust of the New Zealand fielders.

Justice was done an over later when Butcher (6) senselessly flashed hard at a ball from Chris Martin and was smartly caught by Fleming in the slips to leave England on 35-2, looking to save the game as opposed to winning it. This brought Nasser Hussain to the wicket, a man very familiar with crises and batting collapses in the past and, according to the English media, on the point of being consigned to the history books for not the first time.

Strauss, meanwhile, neatly swept Vettori for four to fine leg, then Hussain clipped a single off his toes to get off the mark before Strauss demonstrated once more what is rapidly becoming his signature shot - the savagely-struck cover drive played almost on one knee.

Tuffey went round the wicket to the right-handed Hussain who countered, dancing light-footed down the track and punching the ball through extra cover for a sparkling boundary. Strauss brought up England's fifty with another lovely cover drive, but after an hour and a half's play, New Zealand were still firmly in residence in the pound seats. Strauss was threatening to redress the balance a little, though, savagely crashing a short one from Martin to the cover point boundary.

Brendon McCullum, like Geraint Jones on the previous day, found the unpredictable bounce made for awkward moments for wicket-keepers. A ball from Vettori pitched in the bowlers' footmarks and shot along the ground, embarrassing the keeper who was helpless to prevent four byes.

Scott Styris was brought on to test the troublesome partnership and immediately found the edge of Strauss's bat, the resolute Middlesex opener grateful to see the ball evading gulley and going for four. Three balls later, he was the proud owner of a debut fifty to go with his first-innings century at the home of English cricket, fittingly with a drive through the covers.

More aggression from Hussain saw him driving Vettori through mid-on for four as the pair at the crease were keeping the scoreboard ticking along to great effect, then a sweep by the same player narrowly evaded Nathan Astle at short fine leg and went for four more to bring up the fifty partnership.

A more watchful few minutes before lunch saw England end the morning session on 87-2, still requiring a further 195 runs to win. With 13 of the 15 sessions completed, the game was still as delicately balanced as it could possibly be. New Zealand had won the first half of the session, England comprehensively the second.

Battle was joined once more, the afternoon session started by Daniel Vettori having a good shout for leg before against Strauss, but the England opener got away to the other end with a single to midwicket. Jacob Oram opened from the Nursery End, bowling round the wicket to the left-hander who was looking decidedly uncomfortable, almost as though he was becoming aware of the enormous task ahead of him. The morning was about survival.

Styris replaced Vettori at the Pavilion End and Hussain immediately stroked him to the third man boundary, then a couple of inswingers troubled the Essex man more than a little. As he did in the first innings to such good effect, the seemingly innocuous Styris was making life decidedly uncomfortable for the England batsmen, first rapping Strauss on the gloves then getting one to rear dramatically from a good length and rip through Hussain's defences.

Strauss played and missed on more than one occasion outside off stump, then on the rare occasion that Styris erred leg side, the opener clipped him neatly through midwicket for four to bring up the England hundred. The next ball, another four, this time rather more fortunately through third man to move into the sixties. Oram, meanwhile, was beating him almost at will outside off stump, much the same as Simon Jones had done to New Zealand the previous day.

Two fabulous boundaries by Strauss off the hitherto impeccable Oram got Middlesex's favourite son on the way again as first a half-volley was despatched through extra cover, then the predictable short ball was savagely slammed past point. A single through midwicket when it would have been easy to get carried away admirably demonstrated the wisdom of giving a test match debut to one as mature as 27 years old.

An injudicious sweep had Hussain in a certain amount of trouble but the pair went through for a single, then Strauss rocked back to a Vettori ball which was only marginally short and simply clobbered it to the cover boundary. From the following ball, a routine push past square leg took the partnership into three figures and the England total to 135-2 at drinks.

Chris Cairns was called upon to break the partnership which by now was assuming dangerous proportions from a New Zealand perspective. A half-volley was smacked through the covers for four, then a regulation outside edge was put down by Brendon McCullum, whose blushes were only partially spared by the call of 'no ball'. Then, disaster for England.

Hussain nudged to point, both batsmen set off, stopped and went again, leaving both batsmen stranded in mid-wicket. Chris Cairns had an eternity in which to throw the ball to Brendon McCullum, and the pair made no mistake. Despite being just 17 short of a century in each innings on a test debut, Strauss sacrificed his own wicket to leave England on 143-3.

Graham Thorpe nudged a four to third man, then a hook to fine leg brought up the England 150, now the small matter of 132 shy of an historic victory. Chris Cairns troubled Hussain with one which spat off a length, but the former England skipper, playing each ball on its merits, punched the next, a half-volley, square for four. Another desperately close decision went the way of the batsman when a ball from Cairns kept low and rapped Hussain on the pad. To add insult to injury, the ball raced away to the boundary for four leg byes.

Once more, Daniel Vettori was thrust into the attack, employing the Giles tactic of bowling a foot outside leg stump to the right-handed Hussain as the clock ran down toward tea. At the interval, England were 169-3 with Thorpe undefeated on 12 and Hussain on 38. One session to go and we were no nearer knowing who would win this quite wonderful match than we had been last Thursday morning.

Thorpe survived a vociferous appeal for leg before wicket padding up to Vettori off the first ball after tea, then the next ball an altogether more assured sweep brought him a boundary. The signature Thorpe short-arm pull was used to great effect when Styris dropped short, the ball thudding into the boundary boards at square leg. An entire Vettori over was kicked away by Hussain as New Zealand seemed to be thinking more in terms of a draw for possibly the first time in the game.

Four more precious byes were seemingly notched up as a ball from Vettori spat out of the rough, but after a review the award was revoked, the ball having flicked Hussain's pad. Thorpe played Styris to fine leg, then Hussain square drove to take the England target to less than a hundred as the old stalwards seemed to be taking control. Hussain came down the track to Vettori and drove to mid-on to bring up the fifty partnership as England continued to tick over. Fleming was gradually plugging the caps though as runs were becoming increasingly difficult to come by.

It was coming to the point when a degree of urgency would have to be injected if England were to pull off a victory. Vettori was giving little away, employing a predominantly leg-side line to Hussain, but every now and again Hussain was drawn into using the bat instead of the safe pad option. One in particular turned sideways, the resultant edge squirting past slip for two oh-so-valuable runs.

Thorpe went after a wide one from Martin, edging high over slip for four more, taking England beyond 200 in the process. The pair, playng in one-day mode, seemed now in total control, then Hussain, on 49, pushed square and called for a single. Thorpe was having none of it and sent his partner pack before the Strauss disaster could be repeated. A horrible delivery by Martin went for four wides, then an absolute snorter from the same bowler was far too good to get Thorpe out - in all likelihood, it would have been too good for Bradman.

The gritty Hussain pushed Vettori for a single to bring up a vital half-century, then Thorpe looked gone for all the world as a grubber from the left arm spinner rapped him on the pad. Umpire Koertzen once again declined the invitation to give him out, and again the slow motion replay indicated what a brilliant decision it had been. Hussain charged Martin, hitting him back over his own head for four as the scoreboard really rattled along for the first time in the innings.

With the ball 76 overs old, it became apparent that it was on the point of falling apart so a substitute leather was called for. Both sides looked upon it with suspicion - would it swing, was it harder? The answer seemed to be fairly neutral - England continued to knock it around at three runs per over with little difficulty. It certainly went to the long on boundary rapidly enough when Hussain advanced down the track to Oram. The all-rounder was then clipped beautifully through square leg as the victory target was reduced below fifty. To compound matters, Oram seemed to pull a side or shoulder muscle and left the pitch in considerable discomfort, an injury which does not augur well with the Headingley test match in mind.

A Cairns long-hop was summarily despatched through square leg by Thorpe, then a classic Hussain cover drive took the partnership beyond 100. As the game went into the final hour and the new ball due, Fleming baffled everyone by throwing the ball once more to Vettori. To his credit, he had Thorpe in difficulties with a couple of sharply turning deliveries but the pair were able to milk three runs from the over.

At the other end, the new ball was taken and given to Tuffey who gave Hussain a fraction of width on both sides of the wicket, paying the price with boundaries to cover and fine leg as the target fell below thirty, Hussain moved into the eighties and the fat lady started to warm up the vocal cords. Chris Martin then dropped short and once more Hussain found the fence, this time over the slip cordon. A single to third man took him to ninety. The only real question now was would he be able to engineer the century he so richly deserved.

A glorious extra cover punch for four by Thorpe suggested that he was in no mood to hang around, then a quick single brought him a very good fifty. Hussain nudged a single to third man for the umpteenth time to retain the strike, but the way he was playing, taking the singles when they were available, indicated that the result was more important to him.

Well, perhaps not. A quite magnificent lofted drive and a glorious cover drive off the innocuous Chris Martin saw Hussain through to a brilliant hundred and took the scores level. When the raucous celebrations had died down, he flayed the ball through the covers once more to carry the side over the finishing line.

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It had been a game which had bubbled and simmered for four days with neither side being able to establish more than marginal supremacy. On the final morning, the pendulum seemed to have swung in the direction of the Kiwis - that is, until Nasser Hussain joined Andrew Strauss at the wicket. Gradually, England established parity before Strauss lost his wicket in careless circumstances. Hussain looked distraught for a moment then pulled himself together.

In conjunction with old ally Graham Thorpe, the former skipper who had been part of the backbone of England for so many years took the home side to victory in comprehensive manner, at first quietly then as the partnership progressed, more and more decisively. At the end, Lord's was a tidal wave of emotion which reached a crescendo with Hussain's century.

English tabloid journalists never seem to learn, having already pencilled a variety of other names in for Hussain's position on numerous occasions, but you write this man off at your peril. He has gone on record as saying that he wants to play in 100 test matches, and the performance today under difficult circumstances has made that a near certainty - if he wants to go on. It would be typical Hussain to cock yet another snook at the hacks and go into international retirement now.

England now move on to Headingley cock-a-hoop and full of the joys of spring. New Zealand have to lick their wounds and come out punching, but the Kiwis are nothing if not fighters.

Andrew Strauss had been a revelation on debut, coming within a shout of a century in each innings on debut and he deservedly picked up the Man of the Match award. Whether he retains his place for Headingley is quite another matter. What he has done, assuming Michael Vaughan recovers from his knee injury, is given the England selectors the type of problem they will love to have.

England 441
Strauss 112, Trescothick 86, Flintoff 63, Martin 3-94
and 282-3
Hussain 103*, Strauss 83, Thorpe 51*
New Zealand 386
Richardson 93, Cairns 82, Oram 67, Astle 64, Harmison 4-126, S Jones 3-82
and 336
Richardson 101, McCullum 96, Harmison 4-76, Giles 3-87

England won by 7 wickets.


Posted by Eddie