Wednesday, January 2, 2002 Dear Nasser,

So, it's good news one minute and bad news the next. Anyone would think you were trying to crack some corny gag. First you get your OBE (congratulations, by the way), then you tell a tabloid that the 2003 World Cup in South Africa will be your last hurrah as England captain. Well, two nights ago I resolved to speak my mind more in 2002: please stay, Nasser, just a little bit longer.

You claim that the next World Cup will complete a "natural cycle" for your captaincy, but as reasons go this sounds pretty arbitrary. Why bring the one-day game into the equation when almost all your defining moments as leader have come in Test cricket? And don't worry about age either. Your model here shouldn't be your old mate Mike Atherton, who is five days older than you but retired in September. No, it should be your old mate Graham Gooch, who peaked at the age of 37. You will be 35 five days after the World Cup final – no spring chicken, but no sitting duck either. At 31, you came to the job late (Atherton was 25 when he started), so give yourself more time to mature. Don't settle for a cheap bottle of bubbly when a fine wine is yours for the taking.

But if you carry out your threat, everything could go flat. Do you really want to go down in history as the man who captained England to their eighth successive Ashes defeat, followed by a swift exit from the World Cup, followed by a pre-determined resignation? Let's be realistic here. Australia are currently hammering the world's next-best team: are England really going to do any better? Why not hang on until the end of the 2003 English season at least, by which time you might just have covered yourself in glory by beating South Africa.

The alternative is that Marcus Trescothick - or the even less experienced Michael Vaughan - has only two Tests against Zimbabwe to warm up for the South Africa series. Judging by his one effort in the field during the fourth one-dayer against Zimbabwe in October, Shaun Pollock's freckles will be glowing with excitement. In other words, Nasser, the alternative is another defeat for England in another major series. It would be much easier for Trescothick to begin his captaincy with winter series in Sri Lanka, where he has already played three Tests and scored a superb century, and Bangladesh. Until then, let him concentrate on getting that average up from 38 to 45, where it belongs.

Ok, so you of all people don't owe England anything, but we're talking about the team you helped build. Don't let it crumble. You and Duncan Fletcher have managed to single out several effective operators amid the pick 'n' mix of county cricket: Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Matthew Hoggard, Andy Flintoff the bowler, Ashley Giles, James Foster, Richard Dawson, Jeremy Snape. You will only get better at this, so one more season in charge might mean two or three more discoveries to add to a team which is still not overburdened with talent.

You showed in India just how singleminded you can be when you put your singular mind to something. So why not apply it to the challenge of another few months as captain? I know you can have too much of a good thing, but four years doesn't seem nearly long enough. Resign in 2003 and we risk looking back on your period in office as a mere blip on England's downward path that began in the late 1980s. Stay for a few more months, and it could make the world of difference.

Lawrence Booth is assistant editor of Wisden.com. His English Angle appears here on Wednesdays.

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