Atherton takes on responsibility of Test captaincy

It was the job that brought him more grief than garlands, but that has not prevented Michael Atherton from stepping once more into the breach and becoming England captain for the second time. Appointed yesterday, Atherton said he had made his mind up to accept the job on a river bank after thinking it over on a fishing trip.

His tenure, which takes in next Thursday's Test at Lord's, will last until Nasser Hussain has recovered from a broken finger. Hussain sees a specialist again on Monday and his prognosis will determine whether Atherton's return as captain is extended beyond a one-off job.

"I had no intention of being England captain again, but these are clearly exceptional circumstances," Atherton said yesterday. "When David Graveney asked me yesterday morning, I said yes, though I'd already run things through in my mind."

Atherton, who has captained England in a record 52 Tests and knows the pitfalls better than anyone, added: "These are tough times at the moment. We took a pounding in the first Test and there are a lot of injuries."

Fortunately, he also relishes a challenge, which is just as well for there are none greater than than the one England face in trying to stop probably the best Australian side ever to step ashore in Blighty, on a ground where they have lost just once in 105 years, from retaining the Ashes.

The near impossible nature of Atherton's mission was immediately hit with further personnel problems when Matthew Hoggard was ruled out of contention for Lord's with a suspected stress fracture of his left foot. The Yorkshire pace bowler joins an injury list that includes Michael Vaughan, Graham Thorpe, Mark Ramp- rakash and Ashley Giles.

Widely regarded as the safe choice in front of the younger, inexperienced Marcus Tresco-thick, who has captained England at age-group level, Atherton's record against Australia of four wins, seven losses and two draws, looks respectable after Edgbaston.

"We believe Atherton's previous experience as Test captain makes him the right person," said Graveney, the chairman of selectors. "He fully understands the predicament the team finds itself in and was happy to take on the responsibility."

Graveney, who has never known a period more fraught with injury than the last six weeks, was quick to point out that Atherton had not monopolised the vote. "We looked at all the other options in the team and in particular Marcus Trescothick, who will continue to play a role in all decision-making. But at this stage of his career, the selectors felt that the captaincy was an unnecessary burden." Not so for Atherton, who unlike Hussain, has enjoyed his best batting form while at the helm.

Such a correlation has not always persuaded him, and like Alec Stewart, who ruled himself out of contention following England's disastrous showing in the recent one-day series, Atherton has turned down the stand-in role before ­ when Hussain broke a finger against New Zealand in 1999. On that occasion, he felt it was time for England to move on and hand the responsibility to someone else.

But this summer has seen Australia "in excelsis" and there is surely not a cricket-loving Briton, other than Stewart, who would turn down the chance to try to plot the downfall of the old foe. It will also be Atherton's last Ashes series and, cussed soul that he is, nothing would give him greater pleasure at this stage of his career than to hand England back to his old pal Hussain with parity restored.