After leading England for 4.5 years, Atherton's resignation has immediate effect although he was due to captain England in the five one-day internationals with which the tour concludes. He will stay on as a player for those games under Adam Hollioake's captaincy and after admitting that his decision was due to a combination of defeat in the series and personal form which has been well below his previous standards, he said with characteristic spirit: ``I intend to fight for my place as a batsman.''
It was superfluous of him to add, although he did, that he remains fully committed to the England team. Despite averaging only 23 against Australia last summer and 17 in this series against the West Indies, he is likely to continue as one of England's opening batsmen in Test cricket.
He will have to improve his form for Lancashire first. Last season he averaged 39 in the County Championship, 15 in the Benson and Hedges Cup, 28 in the Sunday League and five in the NatWest Trophy. But the only alternative to him as an opener in this series would have been Mark Butcher: he averaged 15 and Curtly Ambrose lost no sleep at the prospect of bowling to him.
Ambrose, having got Atherton out 16 times in Test cricket, has been more responsible than anyone for ending a captaincy that began in earnest in the Caribbean four years ago. England lost that series 3-1 and the improvements since have been minimal but the fielding, despite crucial lapses, has improved and in spite of yesterday's evidence, England have become harder to overcome. They have consistently lacked match-winning bowlers and they still remain prone to the kind of collapse which lost them the game yesterday when they seemed, through Hussain and Graham Thorpe, to have saved it.
A drawn home series against the West Indies, home wins against India and New Zealand and some dramatic victories overseas, notably in Barbados, Trinidad and Adelaide, have to be set against the brutal truth of failure against Australia at home and away and a continuing inability to win overseas. Only New Zealand, last winter, were beaten in a series away from home in Atherton's record 52 Tests as captain. It is apt perhaps that his most memorable innings as captain, the heroic 185 not out in Johannesburg in 1995-96, should have been made to save a game, not win it.
For such a tough cricketer it is odd that his sides should so often have lacked a killer instinct but that was less the result of his inability to galvanise his players than of the lack of great bowlers at his command. Graham Gooch and all the others before him since the brief period when Ian Botham and Bob Willis were winning Tests under Mike Brearley have had the same problem. So will his successor, whoever Gooch, Mike Gatting and the chairman of selectors, David Graveney, decide it should be when they talk about it later this week.
Atherton came to his decision in consultation with Graveney after long discussions in the last fortnight. He did not tell the rest of the team until the sixth Test was over. Graveney said before returning to England from Barbados last night: ``He has shown great courage in undertaking an immense job. His contribution both as a player and as a captain has been massive. The ultimate judgment of a leader is the respect his fellow players have for him. That respect for Michael among the players has been total.''
MANY cricket supporters who believed he lacked imagination as a tactician and grace as a leader - they had a point, up to a point, in both cases - will not mourn him. His unwillingness to attend formal functions if he felt it would adversely affect the mood of his team - such as parties which, whether through their own social failings or not, might bore them - is well documented. So is his refusal to be in any way artificial for the sake of public relations and a voracious media.
From one point of view that is stubbornness and a failure to come to terms with being in a public position; from another it is both honest and practical. It was greatly to Atherton's credit, too, that he never exploited his position commercially. He put cricket first in the belief that success and a good press go hand in hand. The problem with that was that when it came to failure, doing the bare minimum in the way of public relations was not enough.
The realistic candidates now are yesterday's near hero, Hussain, Alec Stewart, and the major success of the tour, Mark Ramprakash. Adam Hollioake is an outsider only because he has not made a case for himself as a player of true Test class, although he has been unlucky in the West Indies.
In time Ramprakash may become captain of England; as captain of Middlesex he has learnt under Gatting, the best captain of recent times, and since taking over in the middle of the 1997 season he has handled the tiller with a sure touch. But for one so swiftly transported from the ranks of unemployed actors to the middle of the stage, it is surely premature to think about saddling him with all the cares of leadership so early. Let him consolidate his position this summer and in Australia next winter, after which he may well be the man.
Hussain may be that man too. He is articulate and intelligent, but even for him the insecurity of not knowing whether he would be playing in England's next Test is recent enough to inhibit him. At 34, Alec Stewart is four years older than Atherton but, unburdened by the remorseless demands of leading a team which struggles more often than not against the major Test opponents, he would make an ideal stopgap, at least. He has just signed for Surrey for five more years; he loves the game and all that goes with it still.
Atherton Fact-File
1968: Born March 23, at Failsworth, Manchester.
1987: Made debuts for Cambridge University and Lancashire. Topped 1,000 runs in season. Captained Young England in Sri Lanka.
1988: Appointed captain of Cambridge Univ. Captained Young England in Australia.
1989: Awarded county cap and made England debut v Australia at Trent Bridge.
1990: Voted Young Cricketer of the Year. Appointed vice-captain of England A in Zimbabwe 1990. One of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year. Made first Test century (151) against New Zealand at Nottingham. Youngest Lancashire player to score a Test century.
1990-91: Toured Australia.
1992-93: Toured India and Sri Lanka.
1993: July 29, appointed England captain for fifth Test against Australia. Secured first Test win as captain in sixth Test at the Oval.
1994: Captained England in West Indies.
Lost 3-1. Captained England to 1-0 home Test series win against New Zealand and a 1-1 draw with South Africa. Accused of ball tampering during first Test at Lord's against South Africa but denied allegations and was fined £1,000 by management.
1994-95: Captained England in Australia, losing series 3-1.
1995: England share 2-2 home series against the West Indies. Captained England in South Africa. Made highest Test score of 185 not out, passing 4,000 runs for England, while helping to save the second Test in Johannesburg.
1996: Captained England to a 1-0 home series win over India including 160 at Trent Bridge - but lost series against Pakistan 2-0. Under pressure following drawn series in Zimbabwe.
1997: Scored 94 not out and 118 at Christchurch in 2-0 series win over New Zealand but lost home Ashes series 3-2.
1998: Struggled in West Indies as England lost 3-1. Resigned after final Test.