Cricket: England following Atherton into uncharted territory

It is 10 years since the streetwise wags in the Lancashire dressing- room daubed the letters FEC, meaning Future England Captain, over Michael Atherton's cricket coffin. But if that jape began as a dig at the slight and studious fellow who had appeared in their midst, it has ended up as prophecy on a grand scale, and this morning the whole of Lord's will rise as Atherton overtakes Peter May's record and leads his country for a record 42nd time.

With typical bluffness, he feels he will not be able to give the matter more than a passing thought. After all, it is England's last chance to beat Australia at Lord's this century: 100 years that has yielded just a single victory against the old enemy, in 1934.

"I'll be too busy setting the field or working out where I'm going to get my runs to bask in the achievement," said Atherton yesterday as England prepared for the second Test against Australia.

Captaincy is all about decision-making and by the time Atherton ponders the merits of batting or bowling, he will have already decided whether the cracked pitch will have warranted playing the extra spinner, Philip Tufnell. My guess is that it will not and that England will be best served by playing Devon Malcolm and batting first, should they win the toss.

The pitch is firm and has recently been relaid, but substantial cracking at this stage of proceedings will mean larger variations in bounce as the match goes on. It is also a little damp, which may tempt Atherton into bowling first, a temptation that should be avoided unless a poor long range forecast is taken at face value - which Atherton assures it will not be.

After Edgbaston, nothing would demoralise the Aussies more than coming up against an unchanged team being cheered on by an expectant Lord's crowd. England cannot bank on the same kind of boisterous support as they had in Birmingham, but public optimism is such that once the champers and smoked salmon sandwiches have been downed, it would not be surprising if 20,000 patriotic windpipes were to rise to the occasion.

Sensing an Australian fightback Atherton is keen for as much vocal support as possible, but draws the line at some of the boorish chanting and booing that was aimed at Australia in the first Test. "The crowd lifted us at Edgbaston, especially on that first morning. The lads felt that and appreciated it."

But while surging confidence is a good thing, there is still a lot of unplayed cricket in this series. Australia are the most resilient side around and, with Paul Reiffel now installed, a stronger side than the one we saw a fortnight ago. Unlike Atherton, Mark Taylor is not used to coming from behind, and he will have made sure his team have gone back to basics by hardening their outlook and reining in their extravagances.

Atherton, on the other hand, finds himself in the unusual position of leading an Ashes series. As he moves into seventh place in the pantheon of Test captains, he is the only one in the top eight who has lost more Tests (11) than he has won (13).

But while failure may provide a justifiable case for being sacked, it probably explains Atherton's longevity. Captaining England is one of the toughest jobs in sport, and one made virtually intolerable when your team loses more than they win.

Yet it has been Atherton's incredible ability to withstand the pressure of defeat, and keep his dignity intact that has kept him his job. But while most captains resign when the job gets on top of them, Atherton, knowing that alternatives were both few and futile, has simply dared others to sack him.

Until now, it is a call my bluff that he has not played nearly so well on the field. But with a devoted team around him, currently playing urgent and sensible cricket, that may all be about to change. After all, some people are just slow learners who take a while to come to terms with the fatalism of the job.

In a way his biggest challenge may be about to start. With a 1-0 lead, public expectation is as high as it has ever been and there is a danger he may become over-cautious, nursing England's advantage as if it were an osprey egg.

He reckons not and claims that the "processes which you go about getting a good result are the same whether you are one up or one down". Let us hope he is right and that the weather stays fair long enough for him to be proved so.

ENGLAND (from): M A Atherton (capt), M A Butcher, A J Stewart (wkt), N Hussain, G P Thorpe, J P Crawley, M A Ealham, R D B Croft, D Gough, A R Caddick, D E Malcolm, P C R Tufnell.

AUSTRALIA: M A Taylor (capt), M T G Elliott, G S Blewett, M E Waugh, S R Waugh, M G Bevan, I A Healy (wkt), S K Warne, P R Reiffel, M S Kasprowicz, G D McGrath.

Umpires: D R Shepherd (England) and S Venkataraghavan (India).

Third umpire: D J Constant.

Match referee: R S Madugalle (Sri Lanka).