Cricket: Third Test: Prodigal revives England's passion play: Nasser Hussain has had a long battle to fulfil his talent. Glenn Moore reports

IT IS A TALE of courage and rejection, anger and forgiveness, which this week had a heartwarming finale when the prodigal rewarded his elders' loyalty by justifying their faith.

It sounds like the new Jeffrey Archer novel but, despite a few broken bones, the most violent scene in the 'Fall and Rise of Nasser Hussain' involves nothing more deadly than a flying kit-bag.

Hussain's excellent innings of 71 in the Trent Bridge Test will not have been greeted with unanimous acclaim on the county circuit, or even in his own Essex dressing- room, but few will have been surprised, for his is a talent that has shone from the earliest days.

And, in this week of all weeks, one thing is clear, those days began in Ilford, Essex. Never mind the Middle Eastern name, the Madras birthplace and his liking for a curry - hardly a rarity among cricketers - Nasser Hussain is English. He cannot speak Urdu, his father's first language, has received all his cricketing and academic education in England and has only ever wanted to play for England. That he has wanted very, very badly - badly enough to upset a few people on the way, badly enough to get there.

Keith Fletcher, the England manager, said of the the man he first coached as a 10-year-old boy: 'He has a lot of determination to play Test cricket and if you want it badly enough you have a good chance of getting it. He is fiery on occasions but you need that aggression - as long as it is channelled.'

There have been times when it has spilled over. In the Caribbean, very early on his first England tour, at the age of 21, he was recalled in a warm-up match when he created a fuss at his dismissal and was later ordered by Graham Gooch to apologise to the umpires. Twice he has been suspended by Essex, once after his criticism of their bowlers developed into a violent dressing-room row; and this season, allegedly after a verbal dispute with Gooch. That he is playing for England so soon afterwards suggests that, for all his obstinate refusal to pick David Gower, Gooch is not one to bear grudges on purely personal grounds.

But Gooch, like Fletcher, is aware of Hussain's rare ability. 'I'm glad he answered his critics this week,' Fletcher said. 'I always knew the quality of the lad. He has lots of natural talent, very good hands and a good eye.' That first became apparent when Hussain, along with his elder brothers Mel (who was on Hampshire's books and made 72 for the England Amateur XI on Friday) and Abbas, was taken to the Ilford cricket school, which his father Joe now runs, when he was seven.

That was after Joe (an Anglicised version of his Persian name, Jawad) had returned to England, where he had studied and met his wife, after 10 years working in Madras and playing first-class cricket in the Ranji Trophy. Hussain junior quickly developed prowess as a leg-spinner and, within three years, was playing Essex schools under-11s. Four more and he was representing England schools. At this point the most highly regarded leg-spinner in the country outgrew his technique, and his father says, 'lost his loop'. Fortunately he was captain by now and impressing with the bat, and it was as a batsman that he followed Abbas on to the Essex staff, making his debut in 1987. Less than three years later he was in the West Indies with England.

Although the tour marked the beginning of the revival under Gooch it was a difficult one, the usual series of injuries were suffered, notably by Gooch, and Hussain ended it batting bravely in the final Test with a broken hand sustained on the tennis court. He made 35, his best score, but missed half of the following season getting the hand right. By then England were thriving against the soft attacks of India and New Zealand and Hussain was in the wilderness. It has taken until now to find his way back after a journey punctuated by more injuries, loss of form, and those tempestuous moments.

'It has taken this long to get his confidence back and put some big scores together,' Fletcher said. 'He has missed it,' his father said. Part of his rehabilitation has involved two England A tours where he, Mark Ramprakash, Graham Thorpe and Dominic Cork were known as the 'Brat Pack'. Hussain was regarded as their leader and one journalist who accompanied those tours regards him as the 'most self-assured cricketer of his generation'.

He is competitive and 'honest' - in the sense that he gives everything and expects others to, rather than walking when he gets an edge. It is that all-consuming desire for success, individually and for the team, which leads to his brushes with team-mates and authority but also to his present status. A seasoned Essex watcher regards Hussain as 'symbolic of the change in the old Essex spirit. He is not there to have a laugh, he is there to win. He has no time for the fun and games.'

Essex have won the last two county Championships and after seven successive Test defeats England supporters are inclined to regard such an attitude as a distinct bonus. If at times he appeared befuddled by Shane Warne's leg- spin on Thursday he never became flustered. He has also shown his courage against pace bowling. If he can channel his intense ambition and show the same composure off the pitch as he does on it the second chapter of Nasser Hussain's Test career should be more prolonged than the first.

(Photograph omitted)