Cricket: Hussain hints at retirement after matchwinning century

1.00pm - By MARK GEENTY

LONDON - Nasser Hussain stunned the English media pack today when he said he was considering immediate retirement after his heroic century against New Zealand in the first cricket test today.

The former England captain hit 103 not out as England won the first test at Lord's by seven wickets.

After his 14th century in his 96th test, he gave an emotional post-match press conference where he admitted it would be a perfect time to call it quits at age 36.

"I don't really want to go in the middle of a series, I want to beat the New Zealanders.

"But I don't want to see any young lad who's nearly scored two hundreds left out for me," Hussain said, adding he would decide within 24-48 hours.

"The most important thing for me is to end on a high... It was a very special day and it'd be a great thing to sit and remember when you're old.

"I'm not going to be holding people up such as Andrew Strauss and other young lads up. I only want to play in a side that wants me, and a country that wants me.

"I'm going to talk to some people in my life and come to a non-emotive decision about when will be a good time to call it a day."

Hussain and Strauss gave the England selectors a dilemma, with injured captain Michael Vaughan likely to return from injury for the second test at Leeds on Thursday next week.

Hussain said he had been considering retirement for some time amid calls from former England allrounder Ian Botham to give it away.

Today he turned from villain to hero after running out opener Strauss for 83 as he chased back to back centuries on test debut.

"That put added pressure on me, being a (former England opener Geoff) Boycott and running the local lad out. It was a hardly ideal thing to do especially when he's shooting for two hundreds on his home ground."

But he dug in, adding an unbroken 139 with Graham Thorpe and finishing with consecutive boundaries off Chris Martin to the roars of 25,000 fans packing Lord's.

He took satisfaction out of beating New Zealand after captaining a 1-2 series loss in 1999 and a 1-1 draw in 2002.

"New Zealand are a side that have been a pain in our backsides for a while. They're a quality side.

"It doesn't mean a lot because we've gone 1-0 up against them and they've come back on numerous occasions."

- NZPA