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Hussain considering England exit
The former captain said he was contemplating his future as an England Test cricketer and expected to make a decision within the next 24 to 48 hours.
Nasser Hussain said on Monday he was contemplating his future as a Test match cricketer and expected to make a decision on whether to continue with his England career within the next 24 to 48 hours.
Hussain made an unbeaten 103, his 14th Test century, to steer England to a seven-wicket win in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's on Monday.
Former England captain Hussain caused the run-out of Andrew Strauss on 83 when the Middlesex skipper, on his home ground, was in sight of becoming only the third player Test history to make hundreds in both innings of his debut match after his first innings 112.
Left-handed opener Strauss, 27, was only playing because of England skipper Michael Vaughan's knee injury while batting in the Lord's nets last Monday.
And with Vaughan due to return for the second Test at Headingley on June 3, 36-year-old Hussain said he did not want to hold up anyone else.
"I have to make some decisions in my life," Hussain told reporters at Lord's after his match-winning innings.
"The last thing I want to is to hold anyone back. I don't want to hold the young lads up," added Hussain after his 96th Test match.
"I would hate that, to go out and playing just a few more games and holding others back. I will talk to a few people in my life, including my father (Joe) and my family and come to a non-emotive decision in the next 24 to 48 hours."
Despite the fact he had previously publicly spoken about his desire to play 100 Tests, including in one of his newspaper columns, Hussain insisted the importance to him of the landmark had been exaggerated.
"This thing about 100 Tests is something other people have talked up. You set yourself goals but it is not the be-all and end-all," said Hussain who quit one-day international cricket last year after England's World Cup exit.
Hussain was on 29 with England 143 for three - 139 runs short of victory - when he called for a non-existent single and saw the man-of-the match comfortably run out.
Strauss was on the verge of joining West Indies's Lawrence Rowe and Pakistan's Yasir Hameed as the only man to have made hundreds of both innings of his first Test.
But Hussain and fellow veteran Thorpe put the setback behind them with an unbroken stand, the 34-year-old Surrey left-hander making an unbeaten 51.
"It was hardly the ideal thing to try do, especially when he (Strauss) was on two centuries on his home ground," Hussain said of the run-out.
"But luckily I had an old mate (Thorpe) coming into bat and he told me to stop feeling sorry for myself."
