A pugnacious right-handed batsman, Hussain scored over 30,000 runs from more than 650 matches across all first-class and List-A cricket, including 62 centuries.

He was selected for England initially on the back of 990 runs scored for Essex in the County Championship of 1989, though injury and poor form would limit his international caps during the early 1990s to three Tests of a 1990 West Indies tour, and four further matches in 1993.

Although regarded as somewhat of a firebrand in his youth,[3] Hussain succeeded Alec Stewart as captain in 1999 and led England in forty-five Test matches until resigning in 2003.

His father, Raza Jawad 'Joe' Hussain, was an Indian Muslim and a keen cricketer and field hockey player.

[8] As a child, Nasser's first experiences of cricket were family visits to Chepauk, where his older brothers Mehriyar 'Mel' Hussain – who would go on to play briefly for Worcestershire – and Abbas used to bat on the outfield while he chased after the ball.

Born five days apart, Hussain and Atherton soon found their careers progressing in parallel as they captained, batted and bowled legspin for England age-group teams.

[11] As well as Atherton, who was considered the "Golden Boy" of the North at the time, Hussain played with and against others such as Mark Ramprakash, Graham Thorpe and Trevor Ward.

[12] At the age of 15, and captain of England Schools, Hussain "grew a foot in height in the winter" and the trajectory of his bowling was altered.

[15] Hussain made his Test cricket debut in 1990 against the West Indies with the match ending just before lunch on the final day.

[17] At Essex, Hussain continued to score runs and impressed his county colleague and England captain Graham Gooch enough to have a Test reprieve.

3, from the left-field Jason Gallian to the veteran Robin Smith, via the temperamentally suspect pairing of Graeme Hick and Mark Ramprakash.

Hussain became Test captain in July 1999, taking over from Alec Stewart for the series against New Zealand at home, after which he was booed by the England fans as he and his team stood on the pavilion balcony.

[21]Hussain has the record of the most consecutive Test tosses lost as captain, losing 10 in a row between November 2000 and December 2001.

[22][23] Hussain's highest ODI score of 115 occurred against India in the final of the 2002 NatWest Series, during a game that was described by BBC correspondent Jonathan Agnew as "the most exciting one-day international I have ever seen.

After reaching his century Hussain courted controversy by gesturing wildly, pointing to the number 3 on his back and raising three fingers to the media box.

[27] Within hours of Hussain announcing his retirement from cricket, it was confirmed that he would join the Sky Sports commentary team on a full-time basis alongside other former England captains Bob Willis, David Gower and Ian Botham and his former England coach David Lloyd.

[33] He is one of Sky Cricket's leading commentators alongside Michael Atherton, Ian Ward and Stuart Broad.

They have two sons, Joel and Jacob, and a daughter, Layla, all three of whom play for Hutton Cricket Club in Hussain's home county of Essex.