England Vs South Africa 2017: Nasser Hussain Compares Tom Westley With Michael Vaughan
Aug 3, 2017 at 1:40 PM
For quite a while now, England have struggled to find a stable middle order batsman for their Test side. Ever since the unfortunate illness to the talented Nottinghamshire batsman James Taylor, the side has been on the hunt for a reliable and dependable middle order batsman. That wait now has lasted for well more than a year, as several tried and tested candidates haven’t put in promising performances.
The likes of Nick Compton, Ben Duckett and Gary Ballance have time and again disappointed. While Duckett was given a couple of Tests on the tour of India, Ballance has looked all at sea against quality bowling.
It seems that England have finally had an answer, in the form of the gentle Tom Westley. The Essex batsman, who recently made his Test debut against South Africa, looked at ease and registered a calm half century.
Former skipper Nasser Hussain was quite pleased with Westley and even compared him with England’s former captain Michael Vaughan.
“When I first saw Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick I was struck by how calm and composed they were at the crease and Tom Westley similarly impressed me with his temperament on Test debut,” said Hussain.
“The technique is important, of course, but the most crucial thing at the highest level is a character and, watching him play at The Oval, talking to him and seeing him go about his business, Westley does seem to have a bit about him.”
“Westley is making his debut at what I think is a good age of 28 because he has been around the traps, knows his game inside out and, unlike someone like Haseeb Hameed, has been through the ups and downs before arriving at the top,” Hussain added.
“There was more than a bit of the last Englishman to make his Test debut at three in John Crawley about the way Westley opened up and targeted the leg side and there were a lot of positive things about him.”