London, June 2: Former England captain Nasser Hussain picked former Australia cricketer Mark Waugh as the most talented batsman he played with during the course of his illustrious career.
The two shared the dressing room for Essex in County Cricket and that is when Hussain saw from close quarters how Waugh goes about his cricket. Mark, the younger of the illustrious Waugh brothers, scored 8929 runs in 128 Tests and 8500 runs in 244 ODIs for Australia and was also part of the 1999 World Cup winning team.
"I could pick someone from England but I'd say Mark Waugh -- who I played with at Essex -- is the most talented I've played with, given the ease and grace with which he batted," Hussain was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.
"Plus some of the catches he'd pull off! Sometimes he could make it look so easy -- it was almost like he wasn't trying but he actually put a lot of work in."
Hussain also named Graham Thorpe as the most underrated England cricketer as according to him, the southpaw was one of the best batsmen the country has ever produced.
Thorpe played a century of Tests for England and scored 6744 runs inclusive of 16 tons. Hussain feels performing under pressure was one of his top qualities.
"The one that doesn't get mentioned enough is Graham Thorpe. When people reel off the list of England greats, he seems to slip people's minds," Hussain said.
"But he was a man for a crisis, for a battle. He used to get 'difficult' runs in a very quiet and unassuming way. He was one of the very best players I played with.
"That's what came out of the very first Virtual Test I did with Rob Key; it's nice to remember these players that we sometimes forget, because 'my era', the 1990s, was pigeon holed as a bad time for English cricket.
"Thorpe was a fantastic cricketer that would get into most England sides," he added.