Injured Nasser must not hurt our chances

13 April 2012

Nasser Hussain needs to think long and hard tonight before risking his injured groin in tomorrow's final Test in Colombo. The captain will be desperate to play and it will be vital for team morale that he leads them on to the field.

But if he really is struggling and can't be reasonably confident of getting through the five days he has to pull out.

England don't want to be a batsman short in what is bound to be another hard-fought Test, and an injured groin is just about the last injury you want when trying to play a long innings against spin.

If the game was in the West Indies it would be a different story because the stretching required to play quick bowling is so much less.

Painkillers will help but I'm sure Nasser would have taken something before batting on Saturday and we could see how restricted he was then.

England will also need their skipper to direct operations in the field. The home side would be within their rights to deny the opposition a substitute fielder for Nasser, knowing he had gone into the game carrying an injury. (Although if he did break down again I'm sure the Sri Lankans would be told it was a new problem to a different part of the body!)

Only the skipper and physio, Dean Conway, know how bad the injury is and the decision on whether he plays will need to be a calculated gamble. A 70 or 80 per cent fit Nasser will be a big asset, not only in what he can contribute in the middle but also from a psychological angle. No army wants to go into battle with a wounded king.

Sri Lanka will sense a weakness if he doesn't play, yet if he can't complete the game the effect on morale could be worse.

Nasser's ultra-competitiveness might also count against him this time. At some point during a day in the field he is going to forget about the injury and could aggravate it by throwing himself around to save runs.

Two other factors will be bearing heavily on the captain's mind. Firstly, he'll be desperate not to miss out after ending his long sequence of poor scores with that century in Kandy.

And if he doesn't play it would give England no scope in their batting line-up.

Michael Vaughan is the only viable replacement and Graeme Hick would have to be retained unless Craig White is asked to bat at six - and I don't think they'll do that. So if the selectors were thinking of resting Hick, who looks short of confidence after his poor run of scores and umpiring controversies, they wouldn't be able to.

The one thing that won't be bothering Nasser is the one-day series that follows the Tests. He will already be resigned to sitting out those games and resting for a month before the domestic season begins.

If he really isn't up to the job I'd expect Graham Thorpe to nominally lead the side with former captains Alec Stewart and Mike Atherton having an equal say in deciding tactics.

In Nasser's position I'd play on one leg - but that might not be in the team's best interests.

Everyone in the England camp will want him in the side yet at the back of his mind there must be that niggling doubt that he could be letting them all down.

I'm 90 per cent certain we'll see him out there and after that it's a question of fingers crossed. Either way it's going to be a tough five days.

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Alec Stewart

Injured Nasser must not hurt our chances

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