Gemaal Hussain’s star shines brightly at Lords
Gemaal Hussain bowling for London County v MCC at the Denis Compton Oval
As a youth, Gemaal Hussain had a dream of playing professional cricket. In 2005, he responded to an opportunity to enter London County Cricket Club’s ’Search 4 A Star’ Programme at Lord’s, aimed at unearthing ‘talented and undiscovered’ cricketers between the ages of 16 and 24. He was required to bowl twelve balls at England all-rounder, Chris Lewis, under the watchful eye of former England paceman Devon Malcolm, as one of our Professional Observers, in the MCC Indoor School. Hussain displayed some raw talent with his pace and bounce.
On Thursday night, at Lord’s, Middlesex reached 166 for 7 at the close of play on the third day of their LV County Championship Division Two clash with Gloucestershire. The same Gemaal Hussain, playing in only his fourth first-class match, had taken four second innings wickets with late swing at a lively pace, to add to his three wickets in the first innings, on the main ground at The Home of Cricket.
A journey which began with a dream and an opportunisitc mindset, has now reached a destination which sees the London-born 6ft 5” fast-medium bowler as the star-turn of the new 2010 English First-Class season.
Out of over 500 entries, Hussain was runner-up two years in a row in our London County Search 4 A Star Programme. He excelled with bat and ball on Founder’s Day, in our Twenty20 Special Event on The Lord’s Nursery, and spoke very well at the Foundation Members Dinner during the Ashes Test Match at Trent Bridge in 2005 . As part of his ‘Search 4 A Star’ prize, he was awarded a scholarship to The NBC International Cricket Academy in Cape Town, to train and practice during the English off-season and further his dream to become a professional cricketer. On his return, he was offered ongoing Bespoke Mentoring support, and continued to do well in our London County Development XI matches and excel in League Cricket, whilst trialling at several county clubs, including Essex, Sussex and Yorkshire.
This time last year, after a successful trial with Gloucestershire, Gemaal was offered a two year contract, and made his First-Class debut in 2009 versus Kent at Beckenham. The Kent match brought him into direct competition with Darren Stevens who had played a part (as one of London County’s professionals) in the identification and development of Gemaal as a future ‘star’. Gloucestershire’s first innings score of 166 put them behind in the match which they eventually lost by 76 runs. He took two Kent first innings wickets in an otherwise unremarkable debut. However, the belief that he could belong at this level grew, and that seed has been fed and watered by the man himself to ensure future opportunites could be optimised.
Time spent working on his game in Pakistan, coupled with success in The Bradford League, plus a further winter’s development with Gloucestershire’s players in Bristol, has catapulted Gemaal into the forefront of Gloucestershire’s bowling attack this season. He is performing admirably alongside more experienced, International bowlers, by producing some quality performances in the first three games. With one day left at Lord’s his bowling statistics are a healthy 84 overs, 21 wickets for 292 runs, at an average of 13.9 runs per wicket. Most impressive is the strike rate of taking a wicket every four overs.
His bowling performances to date have been:
v Northamptonshire:
11.5 overs 5 for 36; 17.2 overs 4 for 62; Match figures of 9 for 98.
v Sussex:
10 overs 2 for 42; 18 overs 3 for 66; Match figures of 5 for 108.
v Middlesex:
13.5 overs 3 for 50; 12 overs 4 for 36; Match figures (so far) of 7 for 86.
I caught up with Gemaal on the first day of the match and shared some wonderful conversation about his journey from ‘Search 4 A Star’ at MCC Indoor School at Lord’s in 2005, to ‘starring’ on the hallowed turf on the main ground at Lord’s.
He reflected on the struggle he had been through to pursue his dream and how meaningful his current success feels due to the commitment and sacrifice made along the way. Developing the independence and self-reliance by growing ‘outside the system’ has stood him in good stead to make the most of the opportunities unfolding for him now.
He is a delightful and very respectful person. His example is an inspiration to others who may have been rejected by the professional game, and also to the late-starters and late-developers. Gemaal’s success at 26 years old, highlights the need, and the value, of creating opportunities for players to be considered for selection at the top-level in the game who have not come from the mainstream. It also highlights that gems can be unearthed from the UK rather than from South Africa, if county clubs are to serve English cricket better. His early-season success is blazing a trail for others to follow.
Long may Gemaal Hussain’s star continue to shine brightly.
