Cricket : Lloyd to keep Hussain as captain if Atherton fails to recover

England are awaiting a verdict on the fitness of their captain, Mike Atherton, as they rest in preparation for tomorrow's third one-day international against New Zealand here.

Victory would give Atherton's team the one-day series 3-0, with two games still to play. Atherton will be allowed until the morning of the day-night contest before a final decision on his fitness is made.

If Atherton does not make it, England's coach, David Lloyd, will be more than happy for the leadership to remain in the capable hands of Nasser Hussain, who stepped in at short notice for his first taste of England's senior captaincy after Atherton pulled out of the Auckland one-dayer with back trouble.

"Nasser did very well on Sunday," Lloyd said yesterday. "He was calm when we didn't bowl as well as we can at the start and I thought that New Zealand were about 30 or 40 runs short at the end. He also gives a terrific example in the field, because he's as good as anything in the world. One of the things that has pleased me most on this tour has been our fielding - we are becoming an aggressive fielding side.

"We've had many good things happen on this tour," Lloyd added, "but the one incident which for me stood out like a beacon was when Phil Tufnell hit the stumps and ran someone out during the Christchurch Test.

"I've been delighted with the results of the first two one-dayers, giving us four international wins on the trot, but we can still improve. These one-day matches, at the end of our tour, are very important because we know from what happened in Zimbabwe - how you can be judged on what occurs in the last few games."

One player desperate to keep his place in the England side is Ronnie Irani. The Essex all-rounder, who failed to complete his bowling spell at Auckland because of cramp, played only because of Atherton's withdrawal but impressed with his steadiness with the ball and sharpness in the field when he ran out Adam Parore.

"I had not played for three weeks, so that does make it difficult, but I felt good and very determined to give it everything," Irani said. "That's what I have come on this tour for and now I just want to play again. There are three one-day matches left and ideally I'd like to play in all of them. There's no problem with my fitness - I don't think I've been fitter."