When Haseeb Hameed registered his second century of play for Nottinghamshire in the County Championship game against Worcestershire last week, the film showed a dressing room full of glee. It wasn’t limited to the players; Everywhere in the country there is affection for a young man who is treated most rudely by the cricket gods.
Hameed was plucked for the 2016 India Tour as a 19-year-old after an impressive season with Lancashire and impressed everyone from his teammates to Virat Kohli. But a string of injuries and a startling lack of form meant he was first dropped from Lancashire and then sacked, sparking a fresh start at Trent Bridge.
He remained stable in the shortened summer of 2020 but was named vice-captain earlier that season, and his first 111 innings marked his first century for Nottinghamshire and only his second since 2016.
And yet, the new Hirsute Hameed – his chin-length black bob held back with a hairband – seems to be the same polite, cheerful gamer who first showed up as a teenager. He’s phlegmatic about his roller coaster ride. “There were some really difficult moments – breaking a second finger in nine months was tough, my third surgery required six weeks of rehab, and then the following season, which averaged nine years, was extremely difficult,” he says.
“It was tough to be fired from my home club. But in those difficult moments, I was lucky enough to find something deep inside me that won’t make me give up and that urges me to try again. “
What advice would he give this young man who was spotlighted in India? “I would say part of it is not rushing too much, just enjoying the trip. You have your ambitions and aspirations, but you just let it happen on time. Once you hit the international scene as a young boy, you also have a lot of different people giving you different pieces of advice. So I would say just hold onto what got you there. “
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He still has affection for Lancashire, a club he joined when he was nine. “I mostly had absolutely wonderful years. I was very lucky to be part of a very strong age group with Saqib Mahmood, Matt Parkinson and Callum Parkinson. And to achieve what I was able to achieve as a 19-year-old was something very special. My overarching emotion is that there will always be a special place for me in my heart and I think home is home, but it is time for a new journey and chapter in my life and I am fortunate enough to have that to have found here in Nottinghamshire. “
Nottinghamshire’s coach, Peter Moores, is happy too, telling Cricinfo: “He had arrived at a place where he had survived as a player: he tried not to come out and block the new ball, but now he’s … a lovable player with which to watch a beautiful flow to him. “
As for England, “The message has always been quite simple – if I can play cricket again and perform well, hopefully the rest will take care of themselves.” Best of all, he’s enjoying his cricket again.
Marnus Labuschagne, the middle-tier Australian batsman who was such a hit for Glamorgan in 2019, will play his first game of the season against Kent on Thursday. An average of 60.80 after 18 tests wasn’t enough to buy it in the Indian Premier League auction. Instead, he hit 192 for Queensland to secure victory in the Sheffield Shield final.
Joe Root will miss Yorkshire’s game against Northamptonshire and rest. Jimmy Anderson takes another week to recover from his torn calf but Mark Wood will return for Durham v Warwickshire and Stuart Broad for Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire.