Captain Angry makes point

NatWest Series: Hussain battles to brave century and then rounds on his critics

Nasser Hussain had made a rod for his own back. When he reached his first century in one-day cricket he turned to the Media Centre at the Nursery End at Lord's rather than to the pavilion and the dressing room.

He gestured with his helmet to the number on his back. It is No 3, the position he bats at, and the meaning of this private message from an England captain to his critics was that he was batting in his proper place. At the end of a memorable game, the gesture had become news and Hussain was forced to defend himself.

The gesture had not been directed at newspapermen, he said. He identified "one or two ex-players who have been on my case." One was easy enough to identify. Ian Botham has been campaigning fairly relentlessly for Hussain to be replaced at No 3 by Andrew Flintoff.

What was striking after the event was the passion Hussain brought to the post-mortem. "I don't want you to take it personally," he said to journalists. "Don't take it the wrong way please. It's just that one of two have been permanently on my case and that's what's disappointing. I'm old and ugly enough to take it, but all it's done is continuously labour the point and put pressure on me. I was big enough today to handle that pressure."

So he was and he hit vigorously for four the suggestion that the first half of yesterday's ground-breaking century was a bit scratchy. Not so, he said. Anyone who had seen him play for Essex earlier in he season would know that he is in fine form: "look at my stats," he said. The important thing at a Lord's final was to build the innings. The suggestion that he had been seeking his form cautiously during his first 50 – it came from the Independent on Sunday – was treated with contempt.

Deconstruction of the skipper's behaviour had already begun among the journalists he had just declared not guilty. It seemed to be a throwback to an earlier Nasser: a chippy man whose passion for his game and the depth of his ambition made him suspicious and intolerant of criticism.

In the last year he has relaxed, and that was what made his outburst surprising. It brought him little sympathy. An ex-player, who had not suggested that Hussain should be moved from No 3, said that Nasser had had a very easy ride compared to his immediate predecessors, Alec Stewart and Mike Atherton.

The establishment press though it was a pity that Nasser had performed his act only a day after he had received the OBE at Buckingham Palace.

He had looked sombre when he started to speak, but Hussain already knew of Graham Thorpe's intention to retire from one-day international cricket. He had told Hussain so at Headingley. "I had to play a semi-lying game to keep it quiet." Thorpe had injured his ankle, but his fragile persona had tired of the strain of one-day internationals. "It's a huge blow," said Hussain. The first casualty of the amount of cricket we have to play. He is a fine, exquisite player."

Hussain has an opportunity to complain about the volume of international cricket when the Test captains meet at Lord's on Monday. He made it clear that he will argue that too much cricket will curtail the careers of the best players. He did not seem particularly optimistic about his ability to persuade his fellow-captains or the International Cricket Council to rewrite the Test schedules. He implied that the players will do what they are told.

And the cricket match itself? "It was one of the great games. One day cricket seemed to have fizzled out a bit... but not in this case. The two young batsmen [Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Naif] handled the pressure exquisitely," he said. Exquisite was his favourite word. It will not be applied to his own behaviour yesterday.