Hamid Hassan (; born 1 June 1987) is a former Afghan cricketer. He is a right-arm fast bowler and a right-handed batsman who mainly plays as a bowler. He made his international debut in April 2009.
Early life and career Hassan was born in 1987. He is the second of three sons; Rashid being his elder brother and Shamshad the younger one. When Hassan was six years old, his family fled fighting in their home district of Bati Kot near Jalalabad, Afghanistan to go to Pakistan as refugees. They lived in a refugee camp in Peshawar, where Hassan learned to play cricket on the streets with a taped tennis ball from his elder brother. Cricket had a stigma among his people, and when his grades started to suffer at school as a result of cricket, his parents tried to stop him from playing, but he continued to play in secret. Hassan joined a cricket club in 2002 and got selected for a team to go to the Asian Cricket Council Under-17 Trophy in 2003.
Hassan weighed nearly , but after watching the 2005 Ashes series on TV and being inspired by Andrew Flintoff, he lost weight until he was down to so that he could bowl fast. In March 2006, Hassan played a match for Afghanistan against a Marylebone Cricket Club team led by Mike Gatting in Mumbai. Afghanistan thrashed the MCC by 179 runs, and Hassan took the wicket of Gatting. He was subsequently invited to join MCC Young Cricketers. At 20 years of age, Hassan became the first Afghan to play cricket at Lord's. He played for the Marylebone Cricket Club in a match against a European XI in June 2007. He bowled with good control at over , with Gatting calling him a "huge potential".
International career World Cricket League Hassan was part of Afghanistan's squad for the 2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Five in Jersey, which was the start of the qualification process for the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Hassan took three wickets in Afghanistan's win against Botswana and two wickets in their win over Nepal, which gave Afghanistan a place in the tournament final and ensured they would progress to the next stage of World Cup qualification.
He was Afghanistan's best bowler in the tournament final against Jersey, taking four wickets for 27 runs, decimating Jersey's middle order and giving Afghanistan control of the match.
Hassan began division four with a dominant performance against Fiji. Though Afghanistan had only managed to score 132 runs in their innings, Hassan took four wickets for 25 runs as Afghanistan bowled out Fiji for just 52, starting the tournament with an 80-run win. Hassan was influential through the rest of the tournament, taking three wickets against Tanzania and running out Joe Scuderi when Afghanistan defeated Italy, gaining another promotion to the next stage of the World Cricket League. Afghanistan won the tournament final against Hong Kong, and Hassan almost finished the tournament with a hat-trick. He took two wickets on consecutive deliveries, but bowled a front-foot no-ball on the third. Hassan was then an instrumental part of Afghanistan's team for division three, taking three wickets in matches against both Papua New Guinea and Cayman Islands. Afghanistan won the tournament and qualified for the World Cup Qualifier, returning to Afghanistan expecting a large crowd to receive them in Kabul.
World Cup Qualifier Hassan was in Afghanistan's squad for the 2009 Cricket World Cup Qualifier, which was the first time Afghanistan had participated in the event. During the group stage of the tournament, Hassan mostly played as a first-change bowler, and he surprised opposition teams in the tournament with his skill and pace, with Bermuda captain Irving Romaine claiming he was one of the fastest bowlers in the tournament.
Hassan took two wickets against Bermuda, and Afghanistan progressed from the group stage of the tournament to the Super Eights. Opening the bowling against Ireland, Hassan took five wickets. He dismissed William Porterfield early, then removed Ireland's two established batsmen Andrew White and Kevin O'Brien in consecutive overs before taking two more wickets in Ireland's tail. Four of his five wickets came bowled. His bowling performance was enough to give Afghanistan a 22-run win, causing a massive upset over the team who went on to win the tournament. Hassan was far less successful in the next match against Canada, conceding 32 runs in three overs. Afghanistan lost to Canada and their chances of qualifying for the World Cup were virtually over. Hassan finished the tournament with 3/37 against Namibia and 3/26 against Scotland, and though they didn't qualify for the World Cup, Afghanistan did achieve official One Day International status for the next four years. In 2010, Hassan compared Afghanistan's rise through the ranks of international cricket with the film Rocky.
Early success in first-class cricket Hassan played for Afghanistan in the 2009–10 ICC Intercontinental Cup, the first time Afghanistan had participated in the first-class tournament. In a match against the Netherlands, Hassan took four wickets in the first innings and was batting at the end of the final innings when Afghanistan won the thrilling match by a single wicket.
Hassan recorded his first ten-wicket haul against Scotland. After Afghanistan had been bowled out for 435 runs in the first innings, Hassan bowled first change and almost took the wicket of Fraser Watts immediately. Watts hit the ball straight to second slip, but the fielder dropped the catch and the ball went to the boundary for four runs. Later in the over he got Watts to edge the ball in the same direction and had him caught. He then caused a middle-order collapse, taking five wickets in a period in which Scotland lost seven wickets for just 19 runs. Most of his wickets came caught behind by the wicket-keeper, and he finished the innings with 6 wickets for 40 runs. During Scotland's second innings, Hassan injured his ankle and was told by doctors not to bowl, but he decided to bowl regardless and bowled a further 27 overs. He took 5 wickets in the second innings to finish with 11 for the match.
In Afghanistan's next match against Kenya, Hassan got his second ten-wicket haul. He took five of Afghanistan's first six wickets in the first innings to leave Kenya at 90 for 6, then followed it up with 6 wickets in the second innings to single-handedly win the game for Afghanistan on the final day. This took Afghanistan to the Intercontinental Cup Final against Scotland, where Afghanistan won by seven wickets and Hassan was named the player of the match after taking 8 wickets despite playing with a heel injury.
Hassan took by far the most wickets for the whole tournament, with 43 wickets from 6 matches at a bowling average of 19.18 (the next-most wickets was 24 wickets by Scotland's Majid Haq). He was named as one of the bowlers in the team of the tournament.
In March 2011 he was called up by the Marylebone Cricket Club to represent them in the Champion County match against Nottinghamshire. He was impressive with the ball, taking seven wickets for the match, but his most entertaining performance was with the bat. He came out at number 11 in MCC's first innings and hit his first three deliveries for four. He scored 26 runs from 14 deliveries before being dismissed.
2010 World Twenty20 Hassan was a crucial part of the Afghanistan team in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier as their specialist death bowler, bowling the final overs of most matches. He took wickets throughout the tournament and played an important role in Afghanistan's wins over Scotland, the United States and the United Arab Emirates. Afghanistan won the tournament and qualified for the 2010 ICC World Twenty20, and Hassan himself took 12 wickets throughout the tournament at a bowling average of just 11.14.
At the World Twenty20, Hassan was a standout both with the ball and, unusually, with the bat. In Afghanistan's second and final match against South Africa, Hassan bowled very well at the death, taking 3 wickets for 21 runs from his four overs to restrict South Africa to 139 runs. Afghanistan then collapsed to be 32 for 8 when Hassan came to the crease, but he scored a quick 22 runs from 21 balls to help Afghanistan avoid the lowest score of the tournament. Despite having lost both matches, Hassan was proud of Afghanistan's performance at the World Twenty20 and believed they needed to play more matches against full members to improve.
2011–15 Cycle: Injuries and World Cup Debut Following the 2011 Cricket World Cup, which Afghanistan did not qualify for, Hassan played with Afghanistan in both the 2011–13 ICC Intercontinental Cup and the 2011–13 ICC World Cricket League Championship, which ran simultaneously to each other. After playing cricket against domestic teams in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, these tournaments began for Afghanistan in Canada in August 2011. Afghanistan batted first in the Intercontinental Cup match, and were bowled out for 293 before the end of the first day. Afghanistan then had 12 overs to bowl to Canada before the end of the day, and Hassan managed to take four wickets for 12 runs before stumps. He followed this up the next day with 3 more wickets to achieve figures of 7/61, his best ever first-class bowling figures. Hassan then took three early wickets in Canada's second innings to record his third ten-wicket haul, and he was named the player-of-the match in a nine-wicket win.
Hassan was selected to play for a combined Associate and Affiliate XI in a tour match against England in Dubai in January 2012. Hassan took two early wickets in England's first innings, but on the second day he fell over the boundary fence and injured himself, causing him to miss the rest of the match. Though he was initially cleared of any serious damage, the knee injury kept him out of international cricket until he was named in Afghanistan's squad for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20, where due to fitness concerns he was still unable to play any matches.
Hassan returned to good bowling form in the latter half of 2013, with impressive bowling performances in limited overs cricket against Namibia and Kenya as Afghanistan secured qualification for the 2015 Cricket World Cup. His return to form was expected to make him a key player in the 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, and Afghanistan went into the tournament as favourites to win it, but his knee injury flared up again after playing just one match and he missed the rest of the tournament. He was replaced in Afghanistan's squad by Izatullah Dawlatzai and they still qualified for the World Twenty20 without Hassan. Hassan was named in Afghanistan's squad for both the 2014 Asia Cup and the 2014 ICC World Twenty20, but his knee injury continued to cause problems and he missed more matches.