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Hussain in commanding role

If The first requirement for an England captain is that he is worth his place in the side and in prosperous form, then Nasser Hussain's claim to succeed Alec Stewart for the Test series against New Zealand must be getting pretty close to irresistible.

Hussain's 114 off 131 balls in Essex's 47-run victory over Division One leaders Yorkshire carried exactly the sort of mature authority England must be seeking and presented those who are supporting his candidacy with impressive new statistics to brandish at the selectors.

Since the World Cup, in which he made an unbeaten 88 against Kenya and 52 not out against Zimbabwe, Hussain has taken heavy toll of county attacks with two centuries and another four half-centuries in eight innings.

His 141 and 56 not out against Derbyshire in Essex's last championship match suggests that he is not one of those captains for whom leadership is a distraction and on a sluggish pitch which did nothing to encourage fluency, this latest century smacked of class and buoyant self-esteem.

Even allowing for the fact that Yorkshire were without Darren Gough who has been ruled out of the first Test against New Zealand with a calf strain - Chris Silverwood and Craig White, this was a display of unmistakable quality. A dozen fours indicated keen selectivity and Hussain's composed acquisition put the target beyond Yorkshire.

A stand of 52 in a dozen overs with Stuart Law steadied Essex after the early loss of Darren Robinson and the innings was given a crucial surge when Danny Law blazed 38 off 16 balls, including two sixes off Michael Vaughan's off-spin.

Hussain's 161 minutes of imperturbability ended in the last over with a superb catch in the deep and the longer Yorkshire batted, the better his performance appeared.

David Byas clouted 16 runs in one over from Mark Ilott before his aggression ended with a slice to point and the innings coagulated as Greg Blewett laboured bleakly for more than two hours over 48 runs from 97 balls.

Anthony McGrath hit three sixes in his 38 off 31 balls but the last seven wickets fell for 50 runs; the last five for the addition of 14.