The Essex who's who 2008

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THE big red book that takes pride of place in many a private library has been highlighting the county’s achievers for 160 years.
Who’s Who is a massive tome, containing more than 33,000 short biographies of noteworthy and influential individuals in all walks of life, in the UK and worldwide. These include the arts, business and finance, the church, the civil service, education, entertainment, sport, government, the law, local government, the media, medicine, professional institutions, science and the trade unions.
Who’s Who 2008 is the 160th annual edition of the book that was first published in 1849 and it was the first biographical book of its kind, now among the world’s most recognised and respected works of reference.
Compiling it is a mammoth task and takes a team of people 12 months to research, continually update and complete with around 1,000 new entries added every year.
Each biographee supplies the original information for their entry and is then sent an annual proof for updating. Press and other reference sources are also monitored for day-to-day changes and additions. Who’s Who has become a standard reference book in libraries around the world, relied upon by academics, researchers, business people, government officials and charities, as well as the casual browser.
For this feature, Essex Life picks out just 50 of the many Essex entries and interviewer Pat Parker has turned the spotlight on four of those currently gracing the Who’s Who 2008 pages – John Wonnacott, Nasser Hussain, Beth Chatto and Sir Teddy Taylor – to see how they gained their place in history.

Prof. Dawn ADES, OBE
Professor of Art History and Theory, Essex University, 1989-. Born 1943, married, three sons. Trustee: Henry Moore Foundation, 2003-. Many publications include: Dada and Surrealism Reviewed, 1978, Dali: centenary retrospective, 2004.

Roger BAKER
Chief Constable, Essex Police, 2005-. Born 1958, married, two daughters (and one daughter deceased). Deputy Chief Constable, North Yorks Police, 2003-05. Recreations: equestrian pursuits, golf, walking the dogs.

Dr Carey Louise BENNET
Director for Schools, Children and Families, Essex County Council, 2007-. Born 1958, married, two sons. Publication: Help Your Child Through Secondary School (with PJ Downes). Recreations: art, travel, cinema, theatre.

Michael BRACE, OBE
Chief Executive, Vision 2020 UK, 2001-; OPSIS, 2002-. Chairman, British Paralympic Association, 2001-. Born 1950, married. Publication: Where There’s A Will, 1980. Recreations: playing cricket, after-dinner speaking, ski-ing, reading, music. Lives: Hornchurch.

Hon. Matthew BULLOCK
Chief Executive, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, 1999-. Born 1949, married, three children. Chairman, Building Societies Association, 2006-07. Recreations: walking, gardening, music, opera. Lives: Great Chesterford.

Ken CAMPBELL
Actor, director, writer. Born 1941, married, one daughter. Professor of Ventriloquism, RADA, 1999-. Director, Waiting for Godot, Young Vic, 1982. TV acting includes In Sickness and In Health. One-man theatre shows include Violin Time, 1996. Recreations: Dog agility, ventriloquism. Lives: Loughton.

Helen CLELAND
Headteacher, Woodford County High School, 1991-. Born 1950, married, two children. Recreations: reading, theatre, hill-walking, horse-riding, travel.

Ray COONEY, OBE
Actor, author, director, theatrical producer; created Theatre of Comedy at Shaftesbury Theatre, and Little Theatre of Comedy at Ambassadors Theatre, 1983, purchased The Playhouse, London, 1992. Born 1932, married, two sons. Recreations: tennis, swimming, golf. Lives: Epping.

Ven. Annette COOPER
Archdeacon of Colchester, 2004-. Born 1953, married, two sons. Local authority social worker, 1979-88. Ordained priest, 1994. Chaplain, Center Parcs, Sherwood, 1996-2000. Hon. Canon, Chelmsford Cathedral, 2004-. Recreations: exploring waterways, singing, entertaining. Lives: Witham.

George COURTAULD
Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Essex, 2003-; landowner, farmer. Born 1938, married, four children. With textile manufacturer Courtaulds, 1962-83. Queen’s Messenger, 1985-2000. Chairman, Haven Gateway partnership, 2002-, Harwich Regeneration Group, 2005-. Essex Branch, Prince’s Trust, 2005-. Recreations: travel, plant collecting, forestry. Lives: Earls Colne.
 
Brian COUZENS
Classical recording producer; Chairman, Chandos Records, 2004-. MD, Chandos Music, 1961-, based Colchester. Born 1933, widowed, four children, remarried 2006. Self-educated musician, composer, arranger. Orchestration for many films including Where Eagles Dare. Numerous international awards. Recreations: photography, video, nature, wildlife.

Steve DAVIS, OBE
Snooker player. Born 1957, married, two sons. Professional snooker player since 1978, winning numerous championships in UK and abroad. Publications include: How to be Really Interesting, 1988. Recreations: chess, keep fit, listening to jazz/soul records. Lives: Brentwood.

Dr (William) Howard DENNER
Freelance photographer, especially of pop, blues and jazz musicians, 1996-. Born 1944, married, two daughters. Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, 1972-96; Chief scientist (Food) 1992-96. Photographs in international exhibitions, newspapers, etc. Recreations: photography, golf. Lives: Upminster.

Frederick DE VERE CAPELL
11th Earle of Essex. Baron Capell; Viscount Maldon. Deputy head Teacher, Skerton County Primary School, Lancaster, 1990-95. Born 1944. Patron: Morecambe Philharmonic Choir, 1990-. Recreation: music.

John DOUBLEDAY
Sculptor, 1968-. Born 1947, married, two sons (and one son deceased). Numerous exhibitions; Works include: Duke of Edinburgh, Charlie Chaplin (Leicester Square), Beatles (Liverpool), Nelson Mandela (London and South Africa). Battle of Maldon Monument, 2006. Recreation: enthusiasm for the unnecessary. Lives: Great Totham.

Graham GOOCH, OBE
Cricketer. Batting Coach, Essex County Cricket Club, 2005-. Born 1953, married, three daughters. Played: Essex CCC, 1973-1997, Captain 1986-94. England Captain: July 1988; September 1989-1993. 20 Test centuries, record number of runs (8,900) in English Test cricket, 1995.

Godfrey GYPPS
His Honour Judge Gypps; Circuit Judge, 2003-. Designated Family Judge for County of Essex; Chairman, Essex Family Justice Council, 2005-. Born 1947, married, two daughters. Visiting Fellow, Dept of Law, Essex University. Recreations: countryside, dogs, radio.
 
Rt Hon Sir Alan HASELHURST
MP (C) Saffron Walden, 1977-. Chairman of Ways and Means and Deputy Speaker, 1997-. Born 1937, married, three children. All Party Parliamentary Cricket Group, 1993-. Recreations: gardening, theatre, music, watching cricket.

Kenneth JENKINSON
Headmaster, Colchester Royal Grammar School, 2000-  (Deputy head, 1994-2000). Born 1995, married, two daughters. Head, Modern Languages, Blundell’s School, Tiverton, 1988-94. Recreations: family, travel, sport.

Eleanor LAING
MP (C) Epping Forest, 1997-. Born 1958, marriage dissolved 2003, one son. Solicitor, 1983-89. Frontbench opposition spokesman, women and equality, 2004-. Shadow Sec of State for Scotland, 2005. Shadow Minister for Justice, 2007-. Recreations: theatre, music, golf, Agatha Christie Society.

Andrew MACKINLAY
MP (Lab) Thurrock, 1992-. Born 1949, married, three children. Member, Foreign Affairs Select Committee, 1997-. Chairman, All-Party Poland Group, 1997-. Recreations: World War I battlefields, non-league football, Ireland and Poland.

David MANN
Chairman, Charteris PLC, 1996-. Born 1944, married, two sons. Chairman, Aveva Group, 1999-. Joined Logica, 1969, deputy chairman, 1993-4. President, British Computer Society, 1994-5. Chairman, Epping Forest Wine Society, 2005-. Recreations: gardening, walking. Lives: Epping.

Rt Rev Christopher MORGAN
Area Bishop of Colchester 2001-. Born 1947, married, two children. Ordained deacon, 1973, priest, 1974. Recreations: hill walking, amateur dramatics, golf, music. Lives: Lexden, Colchester.

Martin NAREY
Chief executive, Barnardo’s, 2005-, based Barkingside. Born 1955, married, two children. Director general, HM Prison Service, 1999-2003, Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Home Office, 2003-05. Publications include report into Maze Prison security. Recreations: planning holidays, watching Middlesbrough FC.

Jennifer OWEN
Director, Adult Social Care, Essex County Council, 2004-. Born 1954, married, one son. Regional director, Social Services Inspectorate, Dept of Health, 2001-04. Co-Chairman, Older People Committee, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, 2006-. Recreations: theatre, country walks, travelling, friends.

Baron PETRE
18th Baron, John Patrick Lionel Petre; Lord-Lieutenant of Essex, 2002-. Born 1942, married, three children. Heir: Hon. Dominic William Petre, son. Lives: Writtle Park, Highwood, near Chelmsford.

Kathleen PEYTON
Writer (as KM Peyton). Born 1929, married, two daughters. Has published numerous novels, including the Flambards Trilogy, 1967-69, Fly-by-Night, 1968, Blind Beauty, 1999. Won Carnegie Medal, 1969. Recreations: walking, gardening, sailing. Lives: North Fambridge, Chelmsford.

Sarah PHILLIPS, OBE
Chairman, National Board of Trustees, Victim Support, 2005-. Born 1943, married, two children. MS diagnosed, 1981. Chairman, Multiple Sclerosis International Federation, 2004-. Non-executive director, N. Essex Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, 2001-8. Recreations: bridge, choral singing. Lives: Coggeshall.

Sir Nigel RODLEY, PhD
Professor of Law, Essex University, 1994-. Born 1941, married. Member, UN Human Rights Committee, 2001-. Publications include: (co.ed) International Law in the Western Hemisphere, 1974; International responses to Traumatic Stress, 1996. Recreations: music, theatre, cinema, crosswords, walking. Lives: Colchester.

Prof. John SCOTT, PhD
Professor of Sociology, Essex University, 1994-. Born 1949, married, two children. Honorary Vice President, British Sociological Association, 2002-. Editor, European Societies, 2006-. Publications include: Who Rules Britain? 1991; Power, 2001. Recreations: music, reading. 

Angela SMITH
MP (Lab and Co-op), Basildon, 1997-. Born 1959, married. Member (Lab) Essex CC 1989-1997. Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, NI Office, 2002-06; Dept for Communities and Local Govt, 2006-07. PPS to Prime Minister, 2007-.

Brian SOMMERLAD
Consultant Plastic Surgeon, St Andrew’s Centre, now at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, 1978-; the London Hospital, 1978-; Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, 1995-. Born 1942, married, five children. Recreations: Sailing, running (occasional marathons), ski-ing, theatre, supporting cleft lip and palate services in the developing world. Lives: Writtle.

Dr Robert SPINK
MP (C) Castle Point, 1992-97 and
2001-. Born 1948, married (dissolved 2002), four children. Management consultant, 1977-. PPS to Minister of State, Dept of Employment, then Home Office, 1994-7. Recreations: occasional marathons, gardening, potter.

Sir Alan STEER
Headmaster, Seven Kings High School, Redbridge, 1985-. Born 1948, married. Recreations: political cartoons, Fulham FC, ancient history, gardening.

Sir Alan SUGAR
Executive Chairman, Amstrad Plc, 1997-; Viglen, 1997-. Born 1947, married, three children. Founder Chairman, Amstrad, 1968-97. Chairman, Tottenham Hotspur Plc, 1991-2001, Chief Executive, 1998-2000. Publication: The Apprentice: How to get hired not fired, 2005. Recreation: tennis. Lives: Brentwood.

Quinlan TERRY
Architect in private practice 1967-. Born 1937, married, five children. Partner, Quinlan and Francis Terry. Work includes: new Infirmary, Royal Hospital, Chelsea, new Brentwood Cathedral, restoration of three State Drawing Rooms, 10 Downing Street. Recreation: The Pauline Epistles. Lives: Dedham.

Prof. Michael THORNE, PhD
Vice Chancellor, Anglia Ruskin University, 2007-. Born 1951, married, three sons. Vice Chancellor, University of East London, 2001-06. Radio and TV programmes. Recreations: music, (bassoon and conducting), theatre, hill-walking, reading Funding Council circulars.

Anthony TUCKWELL
National Director, National Education Assessment Centre, 2000-. Headmaster, King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford, 1984-99. Born 1943, married. Member, board of directors, Chelmsford Cathedral Festival, 1999-2007. Publications include: New Hall and its School, 2006. Recreations: music, literature, gardening, travel. Lives: Chelmsford.

Prof. Pankaj VADGAMA
Professor of Clinical Biochemistry, Director, Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Biomedical Materials, Queen Mary, University of London, 2000-. Born 1948, married, three children. Barts and the London NHS Trust, 2000-. Recreations: reading, walking. Lives: Loughton.

Brig. Geoffrey VAN ORDEN, MBE
Member (C) Eastern Region, England, European Parliament, 1999-. Born 1945, married, three daughters. Command Intelligence Corps, 1964; Head, International Military Staff Secretariat, NATO HQ, 1991-94. Vice-Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committee, EP, 2002-.
 
Terence VASEY, CMG
Chief Executive, British Leprosy Relief Association, 1991-. Born 1944, married. Country Co-ordinator, Bolivia and Brazil, UNA International Service, 1985-90. Recreation: diving. Lives: Boxted.

Christopher WALKER
Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon, St Andrews Centre, now at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford 1983-; Whipps Cross Hospital, 1983-. Medical Director, Mid Essex Hospitals NHS Trust, 2001-. Born 1945, married, one daughter. Recreations: Jazz, classical music, wine, food, travel.

Dr Michael WALKER
Headmaster, King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford, 1999-. Born 1955, marriage dissolved, three children. Member, Leading Edge Programme, National Steering Group, 2003-; Evaluation and Knowledge Transfer Working Groups, 2003-; working with DfES Innovations Unit, 2003-. Recreations: drawing, painting, tennis, squash, walking, travel.

Francis WHEEN
Author, journalist. Born 1957, marriage dissolved, 1993, partner, Julia Jones, two sons. Reporter, Private Eye, 1987-. Columnist, Guardian, 1994-2001; Evening Standard, 2006-. Panellist, News Quiz, BBC Radio, 1989-. Publications include: The Sixties, 1982, Karl Marx, 1999. Recreation: cricket. Lives: Pleshey.

Robert WHITEMAN
Chief Executive, London Borough
of Barking and Dagenham, 2005-.
Born 1961, married, three children. London Borough of Lewisham, Deputy Chief Executive, 2001-05. Recreations: DIY, music, gardening.

John WHITTINGDALE, OBE
MP (C) Maldon and Chelmsford East, 1997- (Colchester South and Maldon, 1992-97). Born 1959, married, two children. Shadow Secretary of State, Trade and Industry, 2001-02; Culture, Media and Sport, 2002-03, 2004-05 Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, 2003-04. Chairman, Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport, 2005-. Recreations: cinema, music.

Sir Teddy Taylor
SIR Teddy Taylor stepped down as MP nearly three years ago, but he is still as much a part of Southend as fish and chips. Despite being a controversial right-wing Scottish Conservative, he won the respect of local voters, primarily for his dedicated work as a constituency MP. ‘What I enjoyed most about the job was helping people,’ he tells me from his home in Thorpe Bay. ‘It’s the most important job an MP has.’
Despite being an unreconstructed right-winger, he is too much of a maverick to be easily pigeon-holed. He voted to restore capital punishment, and even supported the return of the birch for young offenders. Yet as a constituency MP, he has always helped the underdog – one of his proudest achievements was preventing the deportation of a Zimbabwean student at Southend College. And he is famously a huge fan of reggae’s Bob Marley.
He says he was happy to resign his seat in May, 2005. ‘I was in Parliament 41 years. I enjoyed the first 40 years immensely, but the last year, I felt like hitting people.’
Fervently opposed to our EU membership, Sir Teddy became frustrated because, he says, the then Tory leader, Michael Howard, refused to condemn Europe, the invasion of Iraq and devolution on the grounds it would cause party disunity. Sir Teddy is fervently against devolution, which he believes will inevitably lead to the break-up of the Union.
‘Also, Parliament was becoming more and more irrelevant because all the important decisions are taken in Europe.’
He was vehemently opposed to the Iraq war. ‘Iraq has been a terrible tragedy, and our approach to Iran is frightful. All we have done is store up hatred towards the West in the Middle East, which runs very deep. We shouldn’t try to run the world. If we treated people with dignity and respect, it would solve all our problems.’
Sir Teddy, who’s 71 in April, worked as a journalist on the Glasgow Herald before entering Parliament in 1964 as MP for Glasgow Cathcart.  Ted Heath made him a Scottish Office minister in 1970, but he resigned in protest at Britain signing up to the Common Market. Heath returned him to the Scottish Office in 1974, shortly before losing that year’s election.
He was close to Baroness Thatcher, who charged him with the job of helping to wipe out the Scottish National Party in 1979. This was something of a suicide mission, as he had managed to hang on to his working-class Glasgow seat because the opposition vote was split between Labour and the SNP. ‘I did what she wanted me to, but in destroying the SNP, I destroyed myself too, and lost my seat to Labour,’ he says. ‘I think Baroness Thatcher always felt rather guilty about that.’
The next year, he managed to win Southend East by the slimmest of majorities. He was regarded as a bit of an outsider at first, but his maverick qualities, his staunch principles and his tireless constituency work won voters over. Despite gaining notoriety as a Maastricht rebel in John Major’s government, his constituency party continued to back him, even after he had had the Whip withdrawn. He represented Southend East, and later Rochford and Southend East, for a total of 25 years.
Today, he continues to support various local charities, and Orbis, an international charity which helps blind people in developing countries. He has written an autobiography, which he hopes will be published this year, and continues to enjoy the affection of his former constituents. ‘It’s lovely when you walk to the shops and someone comes up and thanks you for something you did for them. What I enjoyed most about my work was helping poorer people, who are often treated like rubbish by government departments. People are very appreciative.’

Beth Chatto OBE
FROM what was originally a piece of unfarmable wasteland adjoining a fruit farm in Elmstead Market, Beth Chatto OBE has created a spectacularly harmonious, informal garden which attracts visitors from around the world.
Her gardens, which she and her late husband Andrew first laid out in 1960, are divided into four sections – woodland, water, scree and the famous gravel garden, created in 1991 as an experiment to see which plants would survive the dry Essex summers. The garden has never been artificially irrigated, yet it has thrived.
‘Having gardened for 68 years in a part of Essex which is recorded as having the lowest rainfall in the country, I look for plants that are adapted by nature to withstand drought conditions,’ Beth told Essex Life. ‘Many of these are familiar, such as thymes, lavenders, grey foliage plants, sages and sedums. In my present garden, where the average rainfall is just 20 inches, I have built up a large collection of plants, bulbs and shrubs which thrive in my well-drained gravel soil, and make pictures we enjoy all the year round.’
While in winter, shapes, shades and textures of leaves predominate, in summer it is a riot of floral colour. Beth’s gravel garden has served as an inspiration to many in these days of global warming.
A local girl, Beth was born in 1923 and attended Colchester County High School. She left in wartime, and trained to become a teacher. But her life changed when she met her future husband, Andrew Chatto, at the age of just 17.  Andrew, 14 years her senior and belonging to the Chatto publishing company, had a lifelong passion for studying plants and their natural habitats around the world.
The couple married when Beth was just 20, and ran a fruit farm at Elmstead Market. Then, in 1960, they started to create the gardens that have now received international acclaim, from five acres of disused wasteland adjoining the farm. The land was unfit for farming because of the poor conditions – ranging from dry, sandy soil to a boggy, clay-based spring-fed hollow.
But, based on Andrew’s study of natural habitats and plant associations, Beth selected plants which would thrive naturally in such challenging conditions. She developed a woodland garden, where she planted an array of more than 500 shade-loving plants. The water garden boasts moisture-loving shrubs, trees and perennials, such as water forget-me-nots. And the more recent Scree Garden contains alpines and sun-loving shrubs.
In 1967, she created the famous nursery adjoining the gardens, which specialised in selling what were then unusual plants from around the world. Today, it sells more than 2,000 different kinds, predominantly herbaceous perennials.
Beth set out to demonstrate that the key to creating a harmonious garden is to match plants to the conditions available. She pioneered the concept of natural, informal gardening using wild plants, and her keen eye for shape, texture and colour has produced a garden of breathtaking beauty.
Despite having no formal training, she has won ten consecutive gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show, the Victoria Medal of Honour for services to horticulture, and the Lawrence Memorial medal for the best exhibit of any shown at the Royal Horticultural Society in 1987.
She has written numerous books on gardening, and has lectured around the world. Today, at the age of 84, her enthusiasm and pioneering spirit are undimmed. She lists her recreations in Who’s Who as family, cooking, entertaining, music, reading – and ‘always creating the garden’. Long may she continue to do so.

John Wonnacott CBE
THE tides, the mudflats, and the beach of Southend have proved a lifelong inspiration to landscape and portrait artist John Wonnacott, CBE.
From the studio of his Edwardian house in Leigh on Sea, he can gaze across the vast, flat horizons of the Thames Estuary, capturing on canvas the ever-changing interplay of sun, sand and sky.
He never tires of the scene. ‘I love the creeks, and their twists and turns. There’s nothing more beautiful than the estuary on a winter’s day when the sun’s very low, gleaming across the mudflats. Most artists run off to the mountains, but I love the flatness of Essex. You’re always aware of the horizon here.’
One of his greatest preoccupations in the last few years has been to capture the Southend seafront, jetties, breakwaters and all, before much of it was covered with sand to protect it from rising sea levels. He called the series of paintings, appropriately, Farewell.
For many years, John’s reputation rested principally on his landscapes. More recently, however, he has gained a reputation as one of the country’s leading portrait artists, after being commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to paint the then Prime Minister John Major in 1997, during his last weeks in office.
He was then commissioned by the gallery to paint the royal family as a special Millennium group portrait. The painting includes the first and, so far, only painted portraits of Princes William and Harry.
It took John three years to gain Palace approval for the portrait. He finally painted each member of the royal family separately, as it proved impossible to assemble them for a group sitting. He painted the two princes in their house master’s study at Eton – although he did once have to ask William to remove one of his more flamboyant waistcoats.
John was born in London, the son of an architect, and won a scholarship to University College School in Hampstead. He excelled initially in sciences, but became increasingly obsessed with art after seeing his first Van Gogh. He studied at the Slade, and by the time he graduated, his parents had moved to Southend. Thus began his love affair with the light, water, shores and horizons of the Essex coastline which continues to this day.
For many years, John taught part-time in art schools to fund his painting. He fell out with the powers-that-be at Norwich School of Art and Design, where he taught life drawing, because he unfashionably insisted on teaching rigorous observational drawing. The college finally made him redundant – but he was quite happy to leave. His painting of him walking away from the building now hangs in the Tate Gallery.
He has no need to teach part-time now. His paintings are in demand and sell for large sums. As well as the Tate and the National Portrait Gallery, his work is exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and in many galleries around the world. His paintings are sold in London by Agnew’s Gallery.
He is currently working on several commissions, including two huge paintings of dancers at the Tring Arts Educational School. He is also hoping to work as an artist on the set of producer Stephen Evans’ next film.
As he gets older, he increasingly paints self-portraits. He treats his own image with the same detached objectivity he applies to all his paintings, proud to be following in a tradition dating back to the Renaissance. He believes his work is improving as he ages. The best may be yet to come.

Nasser Hussain OBE
NASSER Hussain OBE will be remembered as one of the most respected captains of the England cricket team. Nasser, who still lives in Essex and is 40 this month, was one of Essex County Cricket Club’s most outstanding players. He took over as captain of England in 1999, when the team was at a low ebb, and helped transform it into a force to be reckoned with, at one stage winning four Test series in a row – a feat not accomplished since Mike Brearley 20 years earlier.
Although his career as England captain saw the side hit lows as well as highs, he won the respect of his colleagues and widespread admiration for his passion, his drive, his strategic intelligence, and his fierce sense of patriotism.
Nasser was born in Madras to an Indian father and an English mother. When he was six the family emigrated to England, settling in Ilford. His cricket-mad father, Joe, who had played for the Madras team and later ran the Ilford Cricket School, coached him from an early age, and had high expectations for his son to succeed.
At eight, Nasser was playing for Essex Under-11 Schools, and joined the senior Essex Schools team at just 12. He won a maths scholarship to the elite Forest School in Snaresbrook, and went on to study natural sciences at Durham University.
As a boy, he was an outstanding leg spin bowler. When his height (6ft) hampered his style, however, he switched his focus to batting, making his debut for the county team in 1987. He was appointed captain in 1999.
He made his England debut in 1990, and in 1997 achieved his highest test score of 207 against the Australians at Edgbaston. Two years later, he achieved his great ambition to captain the England side, taking over from Alec Stewart, and making his father Joe a very proud man.
In his younger days, Nasser had a reputation for being a bit of a firebrand. As he matured, however, he managed to control his temperament, and channel his energy into instilling resolve in the England team. He took over the captaincy while England were in the doldrums, but helped put fire into the bellies of the young team, and captained them to four Test series victories in a row between 2000 and 2001, including the first victory against the West Indies since 1969.
Although England raised their game under his captaincy, they still suffered losses, and it is one of Nasser’s great regrets that he never led the team to an Ashes victory. He put himself under enormous pressure as captain – pressure which perhaps reached its peak during the 2003 controversy over whether England should play a World Cup match in Zimbabwe. The team finally boycotted the match, citing security concerns. After they consequently failed to make the second round, Nasser resigned as head of the One Day International England side, and as captain of the Test side soon afterwards. He went on to play for England until 2004, retiring on a high, three days after scoring a century against New Zealand.
Since 2004, Nasser has been a cricketing commentator for Sky Sports, where he has gained a reputation for incisive and thoughtful analysis. He still lives near Chelmsford with his wife Karen, and their two sons, Jacob and Joel. He published his autobiography, Playing With Fire, in 2004.