Hussain quits captaincy as England fight to draw

A TEARFUL Nasser Hussain walked away from the England Test cricket captaincy last night admitting that he “felt tired and stale”.

Hussain, who stepped down as one-day skipper earlier this year, announced he was quitting with immediate effect after the first Test against South Africa was drawn at Edgbaston.

Michael Vaughan will take over as captain, after Hussain confessed he felt his time had passed as skipper.

Hussain, who was visibly emotional in a press conference at the Birmingham venue, said: "I'd love to carry on playing, I'd love to play a hundred Test matches. I just want to be treated like how I've treated my players.

"Captaining against Zimbabwe, with all due respect, you don't have to be too deep as captain the bowlers are doing the talking for you. But on a flat wicket with some good batsmen, against South Africa, I felt I had to go back to the old plans, and I felt I was a bit tired and stale at doing that.

"Four and a bit years in the job can be a bit repetitive and it tests you mentally. I felt I wasn't on the boil, it was time for someone else to do it.

"Basically I just want to go back to being a batsman, picking my bat up and batting, if I'm good enough to stay in the Test side."

Earlier in the day, Marcus Trescothick ensured Hussain went out on a non-losing note. He withstood a painful finger and wearing pitch to become the spearhead of an England performance bristling with determination and resolve to salvage a draw.

The left-hander, already suffering from a fractured right index finger, finished unbeaten on 51 as England resisted the tourists' best efforts to make inroads and reach 110 for one, when rain and bad light halted their progress with 25 overs remaining.

When England began their second innings in mid-afternoon, Trescothick tore into South Africa's attack, hitting five successive boundaries off Makhaya Ntini to become only the fourth man in Test history to achieve the feat.

He then hit a further four more during an 80-ball innings, displaying few signs of either his finger injury or a painful blow to his right knee inflicted by seamer Dewald Pretorious.

His positive tactics continued a theme for the day, begun by as unlikely a candidate as Ashley Giles when England resumed the final day on 374 for seven needing 21 runs to avoid the follow on and continued by South African captain Graeme Smith. Giles reached the target of 395 in just nine deliveries, and reached 41 when the England innings was halted by Shaun Pollock removing his off-stump.

Smith set about attack with great flair, scoring 85 off only 70 balls, before coming down the wicket to Giles and being bowled. He declared three overs later once South Africa had reached 134 for four, earning them a 320-run advantage and a maximum of 65 overs to try and dismiss England.