Nasser Hussain, who turned 30 yesterday, is at the peak of his batting powers and has been Atherton's deputy during a two-year spell in which he has scored six Test centuries. Yet he seems to be a distant second in the captaincy opinion polls to a man five years his senior. Why?

Mutterings about Hussain's temperament persist but the evidence is flimsy. Simply, it seems, he has yet to convince the powers-that-be he is the man to lead England into a new era, prompting them to consider a stop-gap appointment. It is a situation met with a simple statement of ambition.

``Athers made me his vice-captain and while he was in charge he had my total support but now is the time to say I believe I can do the job,'' said Hussain. ``The most important thing to me is to be in the England team scoring runs but I can think of nothing better than being in charge.''

So why is Atherton's deputy not the natural successor? ``I don't know if it's a case of me not giving out the right vibes,'' said Hussain. ``I'm certainly a private person. I wouldn't, for instance, go up to the Sky commentators for a chat before a day's play. It's not that I don't get on with people, more that I'm not one for small talk. I don't actually like too many people getting close to me.

``I have my small group of family and friends and I'm happy with that. If you put me in a room with Atherton, Thorpe and Tufnell I'd be as loud as anyone but if you put me in a room with Willis, Botham and Lord MacLaurin I would just sit and listen to their opinions because they're all greats in their own fields. Similarly, I don't know many of the press guys too well so maybe they get the wrong impression of me. But ask the England players about me and I think you'll get positive answers.''

The fire in Hussain still burns fiercely. He would not rest until he made it back into the England team during his three-year absence from 1993 and is now determined to prove his one-day worth to a selection panel who have deemed him surplus to limited-overs requirements.

Now, his importance to the Test side emphasised by his century at St John's on Tuesday and the devastating collapse which followed his run-out, Hussain is forced to ponder the fact that his innate passion and intensity, so often lacking among English cricketers, could count against him in the captaincy reckoning. He sat on Wednesday morning having breakfast with Graham Thorpe, his closest friend in the England team, before heading for home and talked of what he felt that strength of character could bring to the job. ``I know most of the England players inside out,'' said Hussain.

``During the last couple of years I've been something of a middle man between the players and Athers and I've spoken with them all so much I know what makes them tick. I'm confident, for instance, that I could bring the best out of someone like Dominic Cork and I like the challenge of working with different characters.

``Mike Atherton has been the key figure in making us a decent side but what will disappoint him is that we're still not winning big series. Whoever takes over has to keep working towards finding that missing link.''