da bet nacional： Nasser Hussain walked up to the Crystal South hall of the Taj Palacesporting a broad grin and a cup of steaming tea on the eve ofEngland’s warm up match against Mumbai Cricket Association President’sXI
Anand Vasu17-Nov-2001Nasser Hussain walked up to the Crystal South hall of the Taj Palacesporting a broad grin and a cup of steaming tea on the eve ofEngland’s warm up match against Mumbai Cricket Association President’sXI. The England skipper was relaxed and spoke freely to pressmen on avariety of issues that are likely to stick with the tourists for theduration of the tour. As England captain, he has been deluged withrequests for interviews, photo opportunities and all the othertrappings that come with occupying high office and being popular atthe same time.On the kind of things the England team management had to work out whenon a tour like the current one at India:NH: We do discuss things like that getting players to peak at theright time quite a bit but I try and leave as much of that to Fletcheras possible. He’s really good at getting people to peak at the righttime. When we have one of our management meetings I might suggest, offthe cuff, that we play someone for two warm up games and rest him forthe third. Fletcher might then ask if it would be better to play theperson in the first game and then give him a bit of a rest and playhim in the third game just before the Test. Those are the sorts ofthings we discuss in our management meetings. We have a few playerslike Vaughan and Ormond who have niggling injuries and we need toconcentrate on getting people in top form, fitness and cricket wise intime for the Test matches. You need to work with different peopledifferently. Someone like Atherton would have one way of preparingbefore a big game while others need to be fired up a bit.What it’s like leading a young side in the absence of Atherton,Stewart, Gough and others.NH: As far as running the side, nothing has changed at all. Myself andDuncan (Fletcher) have always run the side. This management structureis virtually the same as before. We have a few experienced cricketerseven in this side. What we don’t have really is the experience ofplaying Test matches together. I enjoy captaining this side, sure. Butthat’s not because I didn’t enjoy captaining Atherton, Stewart andGough and the other guys. It’s just that this is a completelydifferent challenge. It’s almost like our last Zimbabwe tour, a fresh,new challenge.On the kind of challenges that lie ahead and the mental aspect of itall:NH: Anyone who has been here before knows a bit about the challenges.We don’t want to overdo the mind games too much. The ball does a bitearly on, swinging around, and then they have two quality spinners andsome great batsman. It’s just a question of how we cope with it. It’sthe actual cricket that’s important, the mind games are just twopercent of the whole deal. It’s not the kind of game where you go outand win by the scruff of the neck. You have to stay in the game andput pressure on the local side. We have to make sure that we are stillin game towards the end of the Test match and that the pressure is onIndia at some stage.How England plan to achieve their goals in India:NH: We’re an inexperienced side and no one expects us to win. Quite afew people have been writing us off 3-0. India will be playing at homewith big crowds expecting a lot of them. If we stay in the game, ifthis inexperienced side does well, the pressure will be on India, notus. The only way to do that is to get the basic cricketing thingsright. We need to get a lot of first innings runs, take wickets withthe new ball, take every catch, field like the Australians and SouthAfricans are doing at the moment. The most important thing is to getplenty of runs on the board in the first innings.On the fact that Matthew Hoggard who has played just two Tests isEngland’s fast bowling spearhead:NH: Yes he is. (Laughs) With his two Test caps! Then again we mustn’tbuild him up. Just because he’s bowled well Pakistan and Zimbabwe andfor Yorkshire. Virtually everything they’ve done so far has no bearingon how this tour goes. How well they prepare for this tour, willdecide a lot of things. They have to cope with the pressure and theheat and the sweat and the roaring crowds. That will really test allthe youngsters. Matthew (Hoggard) is like anyone else. He’s onlyplayed two games. If he was bowling at Headingly on a cloudy day I’dsay he had a really good chance of doing well. Now we’ll just have towait and see, like with everyone else. Obviously he’s got my fullsupport and backing. He’s got everything he needs; a big heart andit’ll be a stern test for him just like everyone else.On the wicket at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai where England kick offtheir tour:NH: To be honest it’s not what I expected an Indian wicket to looklike. It’s got a lot of grass on it. Bounce in the surface is good.There’s a bit of movement. And yet, I think it’ll turn a bit from thefirst day, more from the grass than anything else. I think it’ll be agood cricket wicket.What it’s like coming to India after a gap of almost eight years:NH: Personally it would be very nice to tour India more often, whatwith all the attention we get and everything. I can’t speak for pasttours. We hadn’t been to the subcontinent for a long time until lastwinter. Now in the space of 12 months we’ve fitted in Pakistan, SriLanka and India. We’re getting used to it. There must be some of theyounger lads who find it a bit daunting with the sheer numbers ofpeople around. Usually in county cricket we’re playing in front of twopeople! I was listening to Sunil Gavaskar on TV last night and he wastalking about all of the Indian players going out and giving theirbest. That’s what I’m going to be telling my boys and I hope we can besuccessful. Really, that’s all I can ask of them.