England legend Nasser Hussain has an in-depth interview about England, South Africa and some of his greatest career memories in an exclusive interview with Tim Dale Lace.
It was Day 4 of the Newlands Test between SA and England and I pretty much had done my duties for the day, a pretty daunting experience working my first Test in the press box. England, as we know, completed a famous win at Newlands and subsequently the series in the following Test where I interviewed former England captain and now Sky TV commentator, Nasser Hussain.
I had been sitting in the same section of the media box with Hussain for most of the Test and he was in constant conversation with the ECB media guys. I wasn’t sure if I could do any media work outside of the Newlands Test so the thought that it might be the last time I would see him up close and have a chance to interview him brewed in my mind.
Hussain as a player was often called Mr Grumpy and similar phrases over the years; however, I in no way witnessed that part of him while working in the same venues as him over the 8-day period. I found him to be the opposite in fact.
He sat two rows in front of me while texting on his mobile phone (KP enjoyed making fun of this on his Instagram). I already had a handful of conversations with Nasser about questions to ask Makhaya Ntini for the piece Nasser did on him for Sky Cricket which is a must-listen if you don’t already know Makhaya’s story.
He had also asked to use my rather old fashioned (they were owned by my grandfather) binoculars, he was not the only person in the press box who used them either. I subsequently asked him if it would be okay for me to interview him and he agreed to a 20-minute interview but only in the P.E. Test. I obviously agreed but was not 100 % sure if I had a press pass for St George’s Park. I decided I would do it one way or another as I did have normal tickets for it.
It worked out very well once I arrived in P.E. (it lived up to its name as the windy city) as I took my seat in the media press box half thinking Nasser would have forgotten about it and would say he was too busy with the commentary job he had to do (he really was very busy).
After a busy first couple of days for both of us where time was rather limited, we reached lunch on Day 3. I was on my phone with earphones in when Nasser tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if I could do the interview then? I wasn’t about to say no.
Nasser and I sat down on a table in the lounge behind the press box in what was the dining area, with people milling about back and forth. Despite the distractions, Nasser was kind enough to give all his attention for a full 22 minutes albeit with a slight interruption by Allan Lamb who wanted him to sign something for the tour group he was with.
He came across as a very shrewd man who gives his opinions only after giving each conversation or question a lot of thought; I suppose that comes in part from doing many interviews over the years.
When we talked about whether SA’s Test debutants Rassie van der Dussen, Dwaine Pretorius, Pieter Malan and the very talented Zubayr Hamza were good enough for the step up from domestic to international cricket, Nasser was of the opinion that:
“You don’t know you are an international cricketer until you have actually faced your first ball (in Test cricket). When you feel you can handle it then you know you can be an international cricketer.”
He talked of his own debut against Patrick Patterson and how he felt that he could manage the step up despite the West Indies’ quality pace attack.
He did say he liked the look of Malan as an opener, with a lot of talk about Faf’s recent struggles as SA captain (Faf decided to step down as captain not long after the series was completed).
We moved onto his role as captain for England and he spoke fondly about his captaincy and one could tell he enjoyed it a great deal, but perhaps wished he could have had a little more of the tools that a modern captain like Joe Root has at his disposal.
“I think Strauss and Flower changed it quite a bit for England with the method of analysing data and not leaving anything to chance.
“In my day we would take a look at what the pitch had done in the past but you would still go more on gut feel and instinct.”
Talking about the past, Nasser seemed very relaxed and happy with what he had achieved as a player and content in his position as a commentator now and in some ways enjoys it more than he did when playing.
He was quite happy to talk about his darkest moment as England captain and whatever angst there was in the past over that coin toss in Brisbane 2002 he did not show it.
Embed from Getty Images“I have got it up on my wall at home.”
He was referring to the picture of that coin toss between himself and Steve Waugh which he says he got from Getty Images the moment he retired. I’d argue it’s only a certain character that would do that and Nasser comes across as someone who tackles things head on just like he did as a player.
“I was trying to reinvent the wheel a bit, a bit like Faf has done here (P.E. Test) where Paterson is opening the bowling with Rabada in the side.”
It was relevant at the time to talk to him about Jimmy Anderson, who had to pull out of the Test Series in the middle of the series.
“I had literally not heard of him but the first over in the nets that I saw Jimmy bowl I thought he would be one of England’s all-time greatest and I have never changed my mind.”
He is pretty clear that England’s 2005 Ashes was largely down to their pace attack and said that Duncan Fletcher was determined to have a proper pace attack rather than the usual English medium pacers.
His time with Duncan Fletcher has been told many times over but he was more than happy to talk about the man who had a huge influence on him.
Embed from Getty Images“He was a man who thought we were underachieving as a team and then I knew we would do ok as a team. His loyalty to me was very important (and mine to him.)
“Obviously we disagreed from time to time but never in public. He was a great thinker of the game as he brought new thinking to our team coming from a business background in Zimbabwe.”
Moving onto things more current and with how things were at domestic and international level in England, Nasser said: “I think there is a massive interest in Test cricket.”
However, the spectator experience at home is at times better than being at the ground. This is because of in part the ticket prices.
Although he does point out that those who are not at the ground are engaged and should be referred to as fans.
“You can’t tell me when Kohli goes out to bat anywhere in the world there aren’t a billion fans finding out how he is doing through social media and other avenues,” he added.
“But we are very lucky in England as we sell out Test Grounds and have many travelling fans. We are in a lucky situation. I think our county cricket needs a little bit of a look at because of the amount of cricket.
“The 4-Day cricket just gets marginalised to the edges. It is very difficult to produce batsmen who bat for a long time and a quality spin bowler. But in general, I don’t like how some knock our cricket in particular Test cricket.
“There are a lot of good things happening in English cricket but we must keep our eye on the ball.”
Nasser on the whole it seems is not as pessimistic about English cricket as some out there seem to be.
As a South African it has always been interesting to witness how English ex-players have an association with their counties.
Nasser in this instance is no different as he speaks very fondly about Essex and both his time there and the players he played with.
“The word on Kenny (McEwan), he was a very popular man, fantastic cricketer.”
I remember as a kid climbing over the fence at Valentines Park to get a sneak at Gooch and McEwan. He seems to feel the same about another South African, Hugh Page, even though Hugh was not a success at the club like Kenny McEwan.
Embed from Getty Images“Hugh was a very lovely guy and I travelled a lot with Hugh. In those days we had what was then called a kit van (a van with kit that we drove to each away game).
“Can’t remember if I thought he was the worst driver or he thought I was the worst driver, one way or another it was a nightmare trip. But I got on very well with Hugh, in fact, we all did.”
When asked who his favourite SA opponent as a player was, after a little pause he said:
“I enjoyed playing against Polly; he got it just about right. He was an aggressive, highly skilled individual,” he added.
“Now when I work with him you know the skills he used. He would make a fantastic coach, a great cricket brain. If I did a nice XI now he would be in it.”
Embed from Getty ImagesWhen the 3rd Test was in full swing I moved things to more recent times and asked what he thought of the current Proteas side.
“You cannot lose as many players as SA have without it having an effect. I am surprised it’s taken this long, to be honest,” he said boldly.
“I would say it’s a credit to SA for doing that”.
So perhaps some introspection is needed from the fans.
While there have been some awful headlines with SA cricket since the start of the season he is not quite as downcast about SA cricket as you might expect.
“To me, Malan and Nortje look to be international cricketers so the talent is still there,” he said.
“The ingredients are there.”
He went on to give his opinion on those that now run the national side from Director of Cricket Graeme Smith, Coach Mark Boucher to batting consultant Jacques Kallis.
“They will do what is right for SA cricket.”
The verdict is still out on that one, to be honest, but in the long run, he may well be right.
Obviously, the word transformation is talked about in SA cricket circles and is often blamed for the current malaise, however, Nasser was very firm with his opinion.
“SA’s problems are not just a transformation problem; they are a pound vs. rand problem.
“What I don’t like doing is telling other people or countries how to do their job.
“What I do know is World Cricket needs SA cricket to be strong.”
It is clear Nasser is quietly positive about SA cricket, only time will tell if he is right.
I finished off things in a light fashion by asking him his favourite non-Test ground and after much difficulty and desperately wanting to pick an Essex out ground, he chose the beautiful Arundel.
Thanks very much for the interview, Nasser.
Photo: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix
