Only India, NZ Producing High-Quality Red-Ball Batsmen: Nasser Hussain

India vs England: Leaving Joe Root, none of the England batsmen have inspired confidence.

Not Amused: Nasser Hussain 

Photo: Twitter/@MEMESBYRAJA123

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has said only two teams in the world, namely India and New Zealand, seem to be producing high-quality Test batters.

"(Robert) Key was saying these things towards the end of his playing career, and this batting demise has been a long time coming. It's not just England, by the way. It's red-ball batters around the world. It only seems to be the two World Test Championship finalists in New Zealand and India who are producing high-quality red-ball batsmen," Hussain, who represented England in 96 Test matches, was quoted as saying by dailymail.co.uk.

While The Hundred, the latest format in cricket currently being played in England, drew praise from Hussain, he felt the amount of white-ball cricket being played at this time of the year was causing damage to Test cricket. He blamed the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for neglecting red-ball cricket.

I've enjoyed it (The Hundred tournament). The atmosphere has been brilliant, and it does have a different feel about it. There is collateral damage to Test cricket from having so much white-ball cricket at this time of year. The schedule is ridiculous.

Nasser Hussain, Former England Captain

India beat England by 151 runs in the second Test match at Lord's to go 1-0 in the five-match series.

Former batsman Robert Key blamed the poor standard of County Championship cricket for the failure of England's batting and said that England's batting problems predate scheduling.

"I agree about the schedule up to a point, but England's problems in Test cricket have not come about because of the Hundred. There was a lot of [County] Championship cricket before the New Zealand series, but England still got blown away with the bat. The techniques of England players have evolved through the environment they have played in for seven or eight years. We are seeing the results of years of neglect for red-ball cricket," said the former batsman, who played 15 Test matches.

Hussain said that the solution lies in playing cricket on better pitches. For this, he said ECB needs to look at the example set by New Zealand Cricket.

"Play on better pitches. We've had Simon Doull with us this season, and he said New Zealand were going through this a few years ago. They decided to play on better pitches - not just flat - and four or five years down the line, you can see the results in New Zealand's Test batsmen. They have better techniques, and they're ready for Test cricket."

(With IANS Inputs)