Sr Hussain defends son

Nasser Hussain8217;s father has branded Merv Hughes a 8216;non-entity8217; following the former Australia pace bowler8217;s criticism of...

Nasser Hussain8217;s father has branded Merv Hughes a 8216;non-entity8217; following the former Australia pace bowler8217;s criticism of the England captain8217;s tactics.

On Sunday, Australia secured their eighth successive Ashes series victory with an innings triumph in the third Test at Perth. Hughes laid into Hussain, saying he had shown a 8216;complete lack of interest8217;.

But Joe Hussain, 62, who together with his son played for leading Essex club Ilford when Hughes was the overseas player at local rivals Woodford Wells, did not duck the Australian8217;s verbal bouncer.

He told today8217;s edition of the Sun newspaper: 8220;If anybody sees that stupid great moustache in Australia, they should tell the bloke behind it his old mate Joe Hussain wants a word with him.8221; Joe Hussain, who now runs the Ilford Cricket School where his son was introduced to the game, added: 8220;Tell him Hughes to come into the nets here and I8217;ll bowl a couple of beamers at him!

8220;Who is he to criticise Nasser. He wouldn8217;t even get in to the Australia C team if he was in his prime now.

8220;He8217;s a non-entity trying to carve out a new career with Sky TV by mouthing off.

8220;If a great Australian cricketer like Allan Border wanted to criticise Nasser, I8217;d listen to him 8211; but Merv Hughes?

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8220;I8217;ve known Merv since he was playing for Woodford Wells in the Essex league. He didn8217;t have such a big moustache then.

8220;The batsmen from my Ilford Club used to hammer him around the ground. I8217;ve got 12-year-old kids at my cricket school with more brains than him.8221; But Hussain Senior8217;s anger was not just reserved for Hughes. He also rounded on Mike Gatting after the former England captain criticised Nasser for flying out ahead of the rest of the party in order to be with his heavily pregnant wife Karen.

She gave birth last month in Perth to the couple8217;s second son Joel and the boy8217;s grandfather said: 8220;Mike Gatting should know better than criticising Nasser for being at the birth of his son.8221;

Gatting was stripped of the captaincy following an alleged incident with a hotel barmaid and Joe Hussain added: 8220;If Nasser had been seen stumbling out of a nightclub at 3 am with a blonde on his arm, then I would have been demanding him to resign too.8221;