Joe Hussain Trophy 20/20 Cricket Festival




The inaugural Joe Hussain Trophy Cricket Festival took place at New Hall on Saturday 22 May.

The trophy is in commemoration of the late Joe Hussain and his fantastic efforts to promote youth cricket. New Hall’s Head of Cricket, Mr Gareth James, was coached by Mr Hussain and together with his son, Nasser Hussain, former England Cricketer and New Hall Cricket Professional they aim to make this festival a New Hall tradition.

The School’s immaculate grounds together with the beautiful sunshine provided a perfect setting for New Hall School, Holmwood House Preparatory School, King Edward VI Grammar School and Felsted Preparatory School to compete for the Joe Hussain Trophy. There was a typical 20/20 Festival atmosphere at the School with music being played for wickets and boundaries, player’s marquees and even a Pimms tent quirkily decorated by parents of the school.

The morning games saw a strong Holmwood House team race to 137 off their 20 overs, with good batting contributions from Harrington and Holland. Felsted struggled in return after a good start with the ball from Holmwood taking wickets consistently in the first 5 overs leaving Felsted 46 all out.

It was a similar story in the other fixture with a disciplined KEGS’ bowling side taking early New Hall wickets. A strong partnership from Baird and Smith in the middle of the innings gave New Hall a glimpse of hope. New Hall started well with Treacher going for just 7 off his allotted 4 overs, receiving good support from Gibson and Berry. Unfortunately New Hall’s total of 70 was not enough as KEGS advanced to the final, with 5 overs to spare.

Felsted then played New Hall in the plate final, which was a much tighter affair. Felsted started well, and every time New Hall created pressure they seemed to find the boundary as the game swung back and forth, New Hall failed to reach the 117 that was set to win.

The cup final was also a well matched game, Holmwood batted first and again they impressed with the bat, with Player of the Tournament Harrington contributing once again. KEGS’ bowlers contended well and were backed up by some outstanding fielding. Patel and Trowell gave a good performance with the bat and ball and led KEGS in return. As they reached the final over, the tension around the ground was growing, Nasser Hussain along with the rest of the crowd watched on as Holmwood managed to defend 12 from the final over.

The day was a great success, with some high quality cricket being played and there were smiles all around as the boys received their trophies from arguably the most influential England cricket captain ever. Nasser commented “It was a real honour for the trophy to be named after my father; he would have been delighted to see so many talented, young cricketers out competing for their school team”

Nasser Hussain started as a Cricket Professional at New Hall in January and together with Mr James the Head of Cricket they are striving to develop the cricket at New Hall. The academy is doing fantastically well, there are exceptional facilities at the School, lots of exciting upcoming cricket tournaments and an international tour. Together they aim to help players progress to county and national level and for New Hall to become one of the leading cricket teams in the country.