'Not taking the selfish road': Hussain

Nasser Hussain has delivered a riposte to Mike Gatting, who had said last week that Hussain was putting personal ambition ahead of the interests of the national side.

Hussain has insisted that he is still the right man to lead the Test side even though Gatting said that England's new one-day captain, Michael Vaughan, ought to be in charge of both teams.

Speaking to the News of the World, Hussain said: "I believe that England will be a better side because I'm leading them - and no one else. If that sounds selfish or big-headed so be it.

"I've told the selectors - and this is not selfish - that if they believe Michael Vaughan or anyone else will do a better job or I'm not doing a particularly good job, I'll step aside."

Gatting, the last England captain to lead the team to an Ashes win, in 1986-87, said that Hussain's pursuit of 100 Test caps and the desire to lead England to more Test wins than anyone else was "self-centred". But Hussain insisted that there was nothing wrong about goal-setting.

"I'm not apologising for having ambitions. That's part of being a professional sportsman, captain or not. It's the English mentality. When someone states 'I'm ambitious', he gets knocked. Here, everyone loves a loser.

"Everyone loved me when I got back from Australia and South Africa last winter. 'Poor old Nasser, having to try to deal with the Aussies and the Zimbabwe issue.'"

England lost the Ashes series in Australia and subsequently boycotted their World Cup match in Zimbabwe, a decision that cost them points and contributed to their failure to make it into the second round. After England's exit, Hussain announced his retirement from one-day international cricket, saying that it was the right decision for England as well as himself.

And he insisted that staying on as Test captain was an equally selfless act on his part. "I'm taking the difficult road. I'm not taking the selfish road. I'm putting my neck on the line this summer because if we lose to Zimbabwe or South Africa [England's Test opponents this season] it will be me the finger is pointed at."