Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Nasa Hussain was awarded a British Empire Medal earlier this month.
As part of being awarded his British Empire Medal for Services to Cricket, Nasa Hussain – head groundskeeper and facilities manager at Bradford Park Avenue – will be invited to a Buckingham Palace garden party to celebrate his achievement. He has one wish.
“I hope they can make sure it’s not done in the cricket season,” he laughs.
“If I get a choice, I might just say, ‘Can you do it after September 19?’
Nasa, of course, is very much joking.
“These are the sort of things that you have to make time for and you make that extra effort because, as somebody mentioned to me the other day, it’s just a once in a lifetime situation,” he said, the pride in his voice very obvious.
As much as his comments were very much tongue in cheek, it does give you an indication of why the hugely popular 55-year-old was honoured in King Charles’ recent Birthday Honours, alongside Yorkshire CCC chief executive Sanjay Patel, who was awarded an MBE for Services to Cricket.
“Getting an honour like this for something that I’ve lived all my life and I’ve loved all my life, you know, it’s wonderful news,” he continued.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Nasa Hussain is the long-standing head groundskeeper and facilities manager at Bradford Park Avenue.
“I started out at 11 or 12-years-old playing the game, and there’s not much that I haven’t done in club cricket land since. I absolutely love it, I really do.
“I’m loving where I am at the moment. Park Avenue, I’m here looking after the ground, looking after the facility.
“Cricket every day of the week, 365 days a year, what more is there not to love?”
Hussain may prepare pitches nowadays, but he used to make best use of them as a seam bowler in the Bradford League.
“I played in the Bradford League in an era when there were some absolutely wonderful cricketers, overseas cricketers as well as the local ones,” he recalled.
“Our men’s coach at Yorkshire, Anthony McGrath, I can tell you a story about him.
“I played against Mags in a Priestley Cup final. I was playing for Undercliffe and he was at East Bierley. He was a top, top quality batter and was on 49 at the time. But he hit one straight back at me, and I got him caught and bowled.
Picture by Gareth Copley/Getty Images. Current Yorkshire men’s head coach Anthony McGrath is on a long list of league victims for former bowler Nasa Hussain.
“He walked past me and called me every name under the sun!
“There must have been about 400 people on the ground that day, and it was in the days of collections. So you can imagine what his collection would have been like. But he didn’t get one because old bugalugs here got him out.
“That’s just one of many stories I have. Anybody who knows me will tell you I love reminiscing and telling you a story about what was.”
The news of his BEM award was broke to him by his daughter.
He explained: “She rang me up and said, ‘Dad, dad, there’s a letter for you’. Immediately you think of the negatives. But she opened it and said that it was from the King.
“My first thought was, ‘Why does the King want to write to me?’
“But she opened it and said, ‘You’ve got an award, dad’.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. League cricket legend Nasa Hussain will be invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace.
“My kids have actually just framed that letter for me for Father’s Day. It’s been amazing.”
Hussain, a vice chair of the National Asian Cricket Council, has also played a key role in the recent renovation of the famous Bradford PA ground, including the installation of the state-of-the-art, £1.5m all-weather Dome, which includes 10 lanes of nets.
Hussain is clearly a central figure in a remarkably strong network of leagues within the White Rose county.
“With my volunteer work that I do with the National Asian Cricket Council – it’s a national body, an advisory body to the ECB – I get to speak to a lot of people,” he said.
“We have representatives from all over the country, and Yorkshire is a very unique place for club cricket.
“For example, within a five-mile radius of Bradford Park Avenue, there are 92 cricket grounds. Ninety two!
“Some counties won’t have 92 overall.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Inside the all-weather Dome at Bradford Park Avenue.
“If you narrow that down to a three-mile radius from Park Avenue, there’s 36. That’s pretty much inner-city Bradford. It’s unbelievable how popular cricket is and what it means to people in this county.”
Not too long ago, Hussain nearly had a finger chopped off by a mower down at Park Avenue.
“The truth of it is,” he smiled. “I’m just a clumsy fella, but I love what I do. Some days you do things without thinking, and that could have been much worse than it was.
“You’ll see many a groundsman or woman who has a digit missing. But, thankfully, I can still count to 10.”
A clumsy fella maybe, but one who has experienced so much in the game.
So what is his favourite moment in cricket to date?
After a short period of thinking, he added: “I captained Undercliffe’s second team to a league and cup double. In the Shield final, we were 96-6 chasing 190.
Picture by Justin Tallis/Getty Images. King Charles honoured two people within Yorkshire Cricket in his recent Birthday Honours’ list, with YCCC chief executive Sanjay Patel receiving an MBE for Services to Cricket.
“I’d bowled 25 overs and went out to bat, which is not something I was renowned for. But I batted with my brother, Basharat, and we put on 100 and won the game.
“That’s probably my favourite moment in cricket.
“I’m not a very emotional person publicly, but I did cry that day because my dad (Qurban) had passed away when I was 16.
“He never saw us play, but he did once in an Under 15s final.
“And I’d been going home before that most weeks, saying, ‘Yeah, I got 50 today and I got four-for’.
“Anyway, he came to this final, and I froze. I just wasn’t used to him watching.
“Subsequently, in 1994, after he passed away, we won the league and cup, and I remember getting quite emotional and saying to myself, ‘I hope dad’s watching because I haven’t bottled this one’. The headline in the Telegraph and Argus was ‘Brothers in arms’, and that meant a lot to us.”
