Intense, passionate and indefatigable: Celebrating Nasser Hussain at 50

HUW TURBERVILL: When he was skipper he would stand at mid-off and advise his bowlers. Atherton called him "a horsefly on a plough horse". He reminded me of a soldier next to a grenade launcher

^{Nasser Hussain turned 50 on March 28}

And close behind Mike Atherton, it’s Nasser Hussain’s turn to reach his half-century…

With England’s Test form so abject this winter, it is so tempting to wonder what it would be like if he was in charge.

Perhaps it is too much to expect him to give up even some of his media work. But England look in need of his hands-on approach.

They are not rock bottom of the Test rankings, as they were at the end of his first summer in charge as captain, against New Zealand in 1999, but they are fifth, and the record under Trevor Bayliss does not make for good reading: played 42, won 16, lost 21, drawn five.

What type of coach, or supremo, would Hussain be? I am sure he would live every ball. When he was skipper he would stand at mid-off and advise his bowlers.

^{Hussain looks out on Lord's on the day of his retirement}

Atherton called him "a horsefly on a plough horse". He reminded me of a soldier next to a grenade launcher. Not the one actually pressing the button, but somebody next to him, saying: “Just to the left. A bit further up. This one should be shorter…”

He would be intense and passionate. At the same time, he would be indefatigable. He has shown great ‘bouncebackability’, to use Iain Dowie’s football phrase.

It is those qualities that saw him reinvent himself as a Test batsman when he suffered the yips as a teenage leg-spinning star.

That saw him score a century against India at Edgbaston in 1996 when he was drinking in the clichéd last-chance saloon.

That saw him silence the doubters who thought he was temperamentally unsuited to the England captaincy.

He showed courage when he and the England team were asked to make a moral judgement on whether to play in Zimbabwe during the 2003 World Cup. Hearing Gareth Southgate ridicule the notion of not playing at the World Cup in Russia this summer brought memories of that fiasco flooding back.

If he does stay full-time on Sky, he is widely acknowledged – along with Atherton – as the most candid and knowledgeable cricket pundit.

^{Hussain has become one of the country's top commentators}

I have helped him with his columns on The Sunday Telegraph and Cricketer. He has always responded with good grace when I have asked him cheeky questions.

When the news desk of the ST told me to ask him if he was personally acquainted with somebody accused of terrorist activities at Forest School.

When I also wondered if England were going to bring back Graeme Hick in 2003 (they didn’t, but he didn’t tell me!)…

When I inadvertently dropped him in it in 2001; I wrote a story saying he was planning to stay on as England skipper until 2003. The Channel 4 commentary team jumped on him the next day, accusing him of pre-empting the selectors. He was very good about it.

So birthday greetings from all The Cricketer, Nasser. We are proud to have him as a columnist on our team.