Hussain's decision to step down as one-day captain means Michael Vaughan will take control on a temporary basis following Hussain's 100th match in charge of his country.

When he returns for the five-Test series with South Africa, however, he expects a far greater sweat than Zimbabwe could induce in two innings defeats inside three days at Lord's and the Riverside.

Steve Harmison and James Anderson both claimed four for 55 and six wickets apiece in the match as Zimbabwe were dismissed for 253 in their follow-on after capitulating for 94 on Friday.

Hussain said: "The last 11 to 13 days of Test cricket have been really good, I know we are going to be tested against stronger sides but we can only play against the sides which are put against us and that is what we did.

"Everyone asked us to win the series and win it convincingly and we did.

"Zimbabwe are struggling, there is no point in knocking them, though. I was in Australia not so long ago when we had injuries and things didn't go our way.

"You can kick a team when they are down on the field but not off it."

But he expects it will be harder against South Africa, adding: "We have done well, it has lifted my spirits a lot and more importantly made us realise that we can play some good cricket.

"But the side coming up next are nearly as good as Australia and hopefully everyone will stay fit so we can see how far we have come."

Hussain will attempt to get into form with the bat in three county championship matches for Essex in the next eight weeks as Vaughan leads the new-look limited-overs squad against

Pakistan and the triangular NatWest Series.

He said: "It is the right thing for Michael Vaughan now to be leading the boys and taking these young guns on," he said. "I mean it from the bottom of my heart - I hope the team and Michael do well. There is nothing better than young lads doing well."

Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak reckoned his team had shown an overall improvement in the innings-and-69-run defeat compared to their Lord's drubbing.

"Sometimes we had England on the ropes but couldn't finish them off," he declared. "Having had them 158 for five we dropped two catches and had we held them it could have been different."

They were shot out inside two-and-a-quarter hours on day two and Streak added: "Our middle-order has been disappointing throughout the series."

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