Basharat (Basher) Hassan
As a kid growing up in Eastleigh and its environs in Nairobi, Kenya
we had our own sports heroes but it was no big deal, they were all just one of us.
We loved their skills, we loved their heroics on the fields of hockey, cricket,
football and in the halls of indoor sports. We were all in the same boat but
some of our sports heroes stood out more than others. Basharat Hassan was born
to be a cricket superstar. He is to this day one of the friendliest people you
will ever meet. He has been blessed with one of the best, permanent smiles you
will find. To this day he has remained the boyhood chum you will never forget.
One of my favourite sports stars, the kid from the Sir Ali Muslim Sports Club.
He was the most loved and respected sportsman in East Africa.
Attacking middle-order batsman,
occasional bowler, excellent cover point fielder, competent wicketkeeper,
Commercial Manager, Committee member, Vice-President, Club President and
all-round cult hero, ‘Basher’ Hassan has fulfilled many roles for his adopted
county since his arrival in England in 1966.
Sheikh Basharat Hassan was born on 24 March 1944 in Nairobi,
Kenya. Having shown his potential in club cricket he made his First-Class
debut for an East African Invitation XI against the touring MCC in November
1963. Three years later he moved to England and joined Notts, although –
as Basher openly admits – he mistook the Trent Bridge Inn for the entrance to
the cricket ground on his first day with his new employers!
Basher made his First-Class debut for Notts at Oxford University
in May 1966 when he played as a wicketkeeper but spent the rest of that season
in the 2nd XI while serving his residential qualification. The following
season he played in 17 First-Class matches, hitting 579 runs and averaging
27.57, with a highest score of 107* against Glamorgan, struck in 98 minutes.
When Notts signed Gary Sobers as the overseas player for the
1968 season Basher was restricted to one First-Class match against the touring
Australians. However, he appeared regularly for the county’s 2nd XI and
for the International Cavaliers – and it was in the Cavaliers’ televised
matches that Basher became well-known for his unorthodox crouching stance at
the wicket.
In 1969 Basher soon established himself as a key member of the
county’s first team squad and in 1970 he reached 1,000 runs in a season for the
first time while averaging 32.44 and receiving his county cap. In 1972 he
headed the Notts batting averages and in 1977 struck his highest First-Class
score of 182*, against Gloucestershire at Trent Bridge. In the previous
match against Kent, he had been injured in the first innings, but with Notts
being asked to follow on Basher scored a remarkable four-hour 106 with the aid
of a runner – although his heroics were not enough to prevent an eight-wicket
defeat.
During a 20-year First-Class career in England Basher totalled
14,355 runs and scored more than 1,000 in five seasons; he also played a vital
role in the 1981 Championship-winning side when he finished third in Notts’
batting averages.
As a useful wicketkeeper, Basher’s versatility also made him a
key player in limited-overs cricket. He was the first Notts batsman to
reach 5,000 runs in the Sunday League and he ended his career with 6,806 List-A
runs and a highest score of 120* against Warwickshire in 1981. That
innings was just one of four hundreds against the same county within six years,
three being Basher’s career-best scores at the time.
Basher’s reputation as a fine fielder was well-deserved and his
306 catches in First-Class matches were the highest number by a Notts fielder
since 1945. The 1971 edition of Wisden praised "his
brilliance in the covers [which] stamped him as one of the outstanding men in
this position in the country", adding that his team-mates were "fired
by the example of the enthusiastic Hassan".
Basher retired from playing at the end of the 1985 season,
during which he made an appearance as twelfth man for England in an Ashes Test
at Trent Bridge. His attentions then turned to umpiring and between 1987
and 1991 he stood in 65 First-Class and 58 List-A matches.
Basher was also well-known across the Midlands as an
enthusiastic and powerful hockey player, and he remains a popular and
well-known figure across the world of cricket. He has supported the charity
Cerebral Palsy Sport for over seventeen years, during which time he has raised
more than £10,000, become one of their Patrons and been the recipient of their
Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.
Basher was also Honorary President of the Nottinghamshire
Premier League and, having served on the Nottinghamshire CCC General Committee
from 2005 to 2017, he was elected as the Club’s President in February 2020,
cementing a 50-year association with the Club.
May 2020, Notts County
Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire First-Class
Number: 444
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