Nasser special guest at owzat promotional evening
by Alan Rowley, 10th April 2003

England skipper Nasser Hussain was the special guest at owzat-cricket's Gray-Nicolls promotional evening on Thursday night. Nasser was accompanied by former Essex player Paul Pritchard at the South Normanton shop.

The evening follows closely after a successful promotional evening, with guest Michael Vaughan, held on behalf of Gunn and Moore a week earlier. Both evenings highlight the success of the local cricket specialists, whose business has gone from strength to strength following the opening of their new showroom last November. The 'one stop cricket shop' is now much respected, not only by manufacturers, but by cricketers worldwide.

Nasser Hussain is greeted by owzat-cricket's Andy Mitchell

Nasser arrived late due to a breakdown on the A14, but all credit to him for persevering when many lesser stars would have given up and headed home. Whilst waiting for the 'man', Sting took the opportunity of having a brief chat with Pritchard now enjoying his role as cricket marketing manager for Gray-Nicolls.

Pritchard told Sting: "I will be playing for Berkshire in the Minor Counties in 2003, as well as appearing for the MCC and the Taverners." He went on to tell us about two new bats in the Gray-Nicolls range - the Megadrive and the Gladius, both new for the 2003 season.

The Megadrive is described as a 'beautifully balanced bat with a very large profile allowing an extremely light pick-up'. For more on the Megadrive, click here. The Gladius is another well balanced bat allowing a light pick-up without losing that 'power at your fingertips' feeling. Read about the Gladius here.

For more information on Gray-Nicolls, go to their website here.

Nasser Hussain arrived half way through the evening, and after apologies and a quick coffee, he was soon satisfying the autograph hunters and amateur photographers present in the crowded showroom. After the ceremonies, a free raffle was held with the first prize being an autographed shirt. This was won by Ockbrook's Chris Windmill.

At the conclusion of the evening, Sting took the opportunity of interviewing Nasser. In an exclusive for the site, Hussain told us that it was nice to be back in the country. "I'm enjoying the rest", he told us, "but I'm looking forward to getting back on the field with the Essex lads again. I haven't played much cricket with them over the last few years, and I can't wait to get started."

Hussain went on: "Essex have a good squad and 2003 will be a real test as we try to stabilise in the top divisions of both competitions. We have a few good young players and we have a couple of promising lads in Jefferson and Foster."

Sting In The Tail publisher Alan Rowley thanks Nasser Hussain

On the new Twenty20 competition the Essex star said: "This will be great for the game, although I can't see me playing in too many of the games - it doesn't really suit my blocking style of play. The lads have enjoyed the two warm-up games we have played, especially the batsmen."

Finally, Nasser told us that he enjoyed these promotional evenings, especially at this time of the year, and it was great to get about and meet the public. We thanked the great man for his time before taking a few pictures of him which can be found at the link below.

Image Gallery: Nasser Hussain at owzat-cricket

If you want more information on owzat-cricket, take a run out to Derbyshire's only specialist cricket shop 300 metres off junction 28 of the M1 on the B6019 South Normanton road. Alternatively click onto their website at www.owzat-cricket.co.uk.