Down, and out: Nasser Hussain resigns as Test captain

An emotional Nasser Hussain walked away from the England Test captaincy last night, admitting that he feels "tired and stale".

Hussain, who stepped down as one-day captain earlier this year, announced he was resigning with immediate effect after the first Test against South Africa ended in a draw. Michael Vaughan, the new one-day skipper, will take over the Test team.

Hussain confessed he felt his own time had passed. At a press conference at Edgbaston, Hussain, clearly upset, said: "Four and a bit years in the job can be a bit repetitive and it tests you mentally. I just felt I wasn't on the boil. I just felt it was time for someone else.

"Basically I just want to go back to being a batsman, if I'm good enough to stay in the Test side."

Hussain said he would like to be remembered as "someone who tried his hardest at all times, someone whose players played for him, not someone who did it just because there was a few quid involved".

He said that Vaughan's success as one-day captain and his different style played a significant part in his decision.

"My style of captaincy was about aggression," he said. "On my first day back it was very difficult for me to stand up there and do something different [to Vaughan]."

Asked why he had taken the decision to quit now, he said: "The captaincy always affects your game. Every England captain will say that. As far as batting goes, I am happy to take my chances. You get runs, you get picked; if not, you go off to county cricket.

"I've taken the decision, now it's up to others. I'll play and get some runs, but if [the chairman of selectors] David Graveney rings and says I'm not needed, I'll go off and do something else."