Sense prevails as Atherton is chosen to lead England

MIKE ATHERTON was today appointed England captain for next week's Second Test against Australia at Lord's after common-sense triumphed over romantic notion.

The selectors came under mounting media-led pressure to promote Marcus Trescoth-ick in the wake of Nasser Hussain's latest broken bone, but wisely rose above it.

Chairman David Graveney said: "Mike's previous experience of the captaincy makes him the right person to stand in for Nasser.

"He fully understands the predicament the team finds itself in and was very happy to take on the responsibility.

"We looked at all our options within the team, in particular Marcus Trescothick, who continues to play a central role in decision- making.

"But at this stage of his career the selectors felt the captaincy was an unneces-

sary burden for Marcus."

Atherton led England a record 52 times from 1993 to 1998 and, since quitting immediately after a series defeat in the Caribbean, he has been more than happy with life in the ranks.

Some critics will say that today's decision is a typical case of selectorial conservatism, underlining a lack of adventure and daring among the Lord's hierarchy.

But Graveney's argument that Trescothick should be allowed to concentrate on his batting, having burst through to the Test scene just 11 months ago, is more valid.

The 25-year-old Somerset opener is clearly a strong candidate to succeed Hus-sain on a long-term basis two or three years from now.

But for one Test, and possibly two, against the world champions while Hussain's left little finger is mending old campaigner Atherton has the safer pair of hands.

Whether he can improve on a record of four wins and seven defeats in 12 Ashes Tests as captain is another matter altogether, of course.

Ricky Ponting, a former 'bad boy' of Australian cricket, will captain the team for the first time when they face Somerset in a first-class tour match starting tomorrow.

Ponting gets his chance after it was decided to rest captain Steve Waugh, vice-captain Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. Meanwhile, family and friends of Alec Stewart, dragged into a corruption scandal last winter, were full of praise after the England international was cleared.

England team-mate Darren Gough said: "Alec has been awesome the way he handled the pressure."

THE Indian cricket board today rejected England's request their team play Tests only in bigger cities in their tour of India later this year.

Jyoti Bajpai, joint secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said England's demand to play Tests only in major cricket venues was untenable and smacked of ignorance about the spread of cricket in India.

Bajpai said: "The ECB are being illogical and probably don't have a clue about the facilities at various venues."

The ECB had asked that the three Tests be played at regular venues like Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and New Delhi. But the BCCI's provisional itinerary has England playing the Tests at Mohali, Kanpur and Bangalore.

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