Stewart to lead England in Second npower Test

Alec Stewart will take over from the injured Nasser Hussain as England captain for the Second npower Test Match against Pakistan at Old Trafford next week, it was announced today.

Announcing Stewart's appointment, Chairman of Selectors David Graveney, said: "We have appointed Alec as captain for the next Test Match and he will be included in the selectors' discussions about the make-up of the team. Alec has acted as stand-in captain before both this year and last year and he will be a very able substitute for Nasser."

"We will be talking to both Alec Stewart and Graham Thorpe about the one-day captaincy role for the NatWest series over the next 72 hours and a further announcement will be made on Friday when the squad will also be named. "

The England physiotherapist Dean Conway said today that Nasser Hussain is to undergo further treatment on his injured right thumb at a West London hospital later this week.

Dean said: "Nasser will have a metal pin inserted into his thumb by a specialist on Wednesday. This is a medical procedure that does not involve surgery and it will be performed under local anaesthetic.

"The insertion of a pin should speed up the rehabilitation process for Nasser once the fracture has healed. At this stage, we estimate that he will be out of cricket for around four weeks."