Once Nasser Hussain regularly broke fingers at Lord's. Now he regularlybreaks bowlers' hearts there. He bustled to the crease with England in trouble at 0 for 1, and proceeded to give his side the upper hand on an absorbing first day.

It was a less frenzied innings than that one-day century in the NatWest Series final a fortnight ago. Understandably, it was also a more measured knock than that one, studded with classical cover-drives that left the fielders studying their fingernails. Occasionally he swivelled to pull viciously down to the Tavern stand. And there were a couple of those trademark Hussain hustles down the track, to smack the bowler back into the boondocks at the Nursery end.

There was no supercharged celebration from Nasser this time, not just because he didn't have a number on the back of his pristine white shirt. There was merely a wave of the bat to the crowd, and an impish double brandish towards his supposed detractors, perched up in the media centre. No malice there – unless he's learned semaphore, of course.

At 78 for 3 the England fan was looking nervously at the electronic scoreboard – it hadn't then given up the ghost, which it did at tea – and started applauding a team selection which had Craig White, a centurymaker in his last-but-one Test, at No. 8. But Hussain and John Crawley steadied the nerves, with Crawley taking his Lord's Test average for the summer past 100 for a while. That halved when he sparred limply at Sehwag's straight'un and edged to slip.

The Hussain-Crawley stand delayed the entrance of the record-breaker. Alec Stewart eventually marched out, acknowledged the applause, and had a quick word with his captain. He congratulated Hussain on his hundred ... and probably couldn't resist telling him that the luckless James Foster had broken his thumb and wouldn't be reclaiming Stewart's place just yet. Another Australian tour beckons ever more strongly for The Gaffer. A big innings here would make sure – and go a long way to making England safe from defeat in the first Test.

Steven is Database Director of Wisden.com.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd