By Oliver Brett

There was much soul-searching during the Zimbabwe fiasco

Nasser Hussain, a man who will leave an indelible mark on cricket many years from now, was a player of fascinating contrasts.

On one plane, he was a grim-faced blunter of opposition bowling, on another a carefree and attacking shot-maker.

As a captain, he would back his players to the hilt in times of crisis, notably during the farce surrounding England's World Cup match in Zimbabwe.

But when involved in a mix-up with a fellow batsman, he would look after number one and ensure he was not the man to be run out.

Beginning his career in a strong Essex side in the late 1980s, he was an outstanding fielder and a stylish but inconsistent batsman.

A notable weapon even then was the drive hit well behind square on the off-side, a shot that would become his trademark for the rest of his career.

NASSER HUSSAIN FACTFILE Born: 28 March, 1968 in Madras Essex record: debut in 1987, benefit 1999 England record: debut in 1990, v West Indies (Jamaica) England captaincy: Won 17 of a record 45 Tests See full captaincy record Test centuries: 14, highest score: 207 v Australia (Edgbaston, 1997)

But throughout, he also used his gloves as a line of defence, broken fingers resulting all too often.

He had something of a fiery temper in his early jousts at Test level, one that briefly jeopardised his prospects of an international career.

Whether by personal choice or not, in time he learnt to divert that temper so that it was channelled against the world's best pacemen and spinners.

But there were times, even late on in his captaincy, that it would resurface.

When England were made to field in virtual darkness in a Test match in Auckland in 2002, he vented his fury with the umpires.

Later that year, when the critics wondered what he was doing batting at three in one-day cricket, he was keen to make his point known.

In the NatWest Series final against India at Lord's, he hit a century and immediately turned to the media centre with three fingers thrust upwards in defiance.

The media and Nasser were not always the very best of buddies

By then he had transformed the England team from an unfocused crew of under-achievers to a committed, mutually-supportive unit who gave their all and competed with all teams bar Australia.

Significantly, the renaissance was achieved not with a sudden flush of new talent, but through the carefully-cultivated and harmonious relationship he developed with England's coach Duncan Fletcher.

Fletcher made the subtle changes in the background, tinkering with the batsmen's techniques and providing moral support for under-pressure bowlers.

Meanwhile, Hussain led the team meetings and made his players realise the importance of standing up for themselves.

There would be no more debutants cowed into submission by sledging Aussies. From now on England would give as good as they got on that particular front.

Every opportunity to crank up the pressure on opposition batsmen would be taken.

Constant field changes were one thing, but occasionally Hussain stood inches from the batsman, on his crease, to place his fielders.

Hussain left Michael Vaughan no time to prepare for captaincy

He was terrible at winning tosses, but when he lost one it was just another hurdle on the rocky road of adversity that his team would overcome.

Hussain left his country in the lurch after resigning the captaincy suddenly and in the middle of a Test series against South Africa in 2003.

But he had still been rightly judged to be England's finest Test captain since the very different Mike Brearley.

In any case, the players who had been beneath Hussain showed their loyalty by rallying around him for the rest of the series.

They knew that the more unfriendly the wicket, the more acerbic the sledging and the faster the bowlers, the better he played.

And though he ends his career with a Test batting average below the 40-mark which is said to separate the best from the rest, Hussain was so much more than a statistic.